Buenos Aires, Dec 5 (NA) – British driver Lando Norris (McLaren) finished in first place during the first free practice of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 24th and final round of the Formula 1 championship. Norris, who will seek to win the Formula 1 championship for the first time in his career this Sunday, set a time of 1:24.485, just eight thousandths of a second ahead of his closest rival, Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), another title contender. In turn, Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) also finished very close to the front, just 16 thousandths behind Norris. Meanwhile, Argentine Franco Colapinto had a solid performance to finish tenth, as his best lap was only 370 thousandths of a second off Norris's time at the Yas Marina Circuit. The first free practice of the Abu Dhabi GP saw the participation of several reserve drivers. Among them was Mexican Patricio O'Ward, who replaced Australian Oscar Piastri at McLaren. The latter, who also has a chance to be champion this weekend, will have to complete many laps in the second and third free practices to get up to speed ahead of Saturday's qualifying. Action at the Abu Dhabi GP will continue at 10:00 with the second free practice, which will be covered live by the Argentine News Agency. This is how the FP1 of the Abu Dhabi GP ended: 1- Lando Norris (McLaren) 2- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 3- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 4- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 5- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 6- George Russell (Mercedes) 7- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 8- Oliver Bearman (Haas) 9- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) 10- Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 11- Ryo Hirakawa (Haas) 12- Isak Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 13- Paul Aron (Alpine) 14- Patricio O'Ward (McLaren) 15- Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull) 16- Arthur Leclerc (Ferrari) 17- Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls) 18- Luke Browning (Williams) 19- Jak Crawford (Aston Martin) 20- Cian Shields (Aston Martin)
