F1 Live: 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix third practice

This session is live. You are not logged in, so new updates will not appear automatically. For automatic updates, log in here or register a free RaceFans account here.

Lawson reports he went off at turn six. He’s slowest at the moment, though he is running the hard tyres.

Worrying smoke from the back of Carlos Sainz Jnr as he goes through the first sector. He backs off significantly around the rest of the lap and pits. Ferrari already have a grid penalty on Leclerc’s car due to a power unit problem yesterday – is this more bad luck?

Zhou Guanyu not happy to find a Red Bull on the apex of of turn three. “What the fuck, Perez?”

Russell: “Not sure what’s going on. Car feels okay, just very slow.” He’s 19th so far on a 1’26.027.

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

Unusually, RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are running the hard tyres at the moment. Most drivers have been avoiding those as they expect to need them in the race.

Verstappen, who clearly didn’t show his hand yesterday, puts up a 1’24.985 which is the fastest lap on the medium tyre compound so far, half a second off Magnussen’s soft-tyre time.

The track is getting busier now. Haas, who looked competitive yesterday, lead the times with Kevin Magnussen on a 1’24.470 on softs, three-tenths up on Lando Norris.

Lance Stroll puts up the quickest time with a 1’25.928. We’ve got eight cars on-track now including Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

The Alpine drivers are first to put up times. Jack Doohan goes quickest with a 1’25.633. Pierre Gasly got very loose on the exit kerb at turn five.

Fernando Alonso: “I think it’s going to be a good day. I havea good feeling.” He ended first practice yesterday saying he had his “worst car ever.”

The Aston Martin drivers have joined the track to scrub a set of hard tyres, but that might be all the action we get for a while.

McLaren led the way comfortably yesterday but several of their rivals appears not to be pushing their cars as hard. Max Verstappen, notably, was a clearly unrepresentative 17th in his Red Bull. George Russell said he was prioritising test work for 2025 in his Mercedes.

The final practice session of the season at Yas Marina often gest off to a slow start as the track tends to be hot while the drivers know the two remaining sessions will take place around nightfall. They will want to do most of their running towards the end of the hour as the track temperatures fall.

Third practice for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is coming up next.