Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: The young ones take over in F1

Last Formula 1 weekend of the 2023 season, and therefore the last free practice session 1. The young drivers are in the spotlight, with 10 of them driving the single-seaters instead of the regulars. Two French drivers will be among them: Théo Pourchaire and Isack Hadjar. The latter will even have the honor of driving the world championship-winning car: the RB19.

This session is not crucial for the Grand Prix. Indeed, the qualifying sessions and the GP will take place at night, while the FP1 session is scheduled earlier, when it is still daylight and rather hot. Therefore, the data gathered during this session will not be perfectly applicable for the GP. That’s why the teams prioritize this session for the 3rd drivers to get some track time.

The complete list of the 10 young drivers on the track:

Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari replaces Charles Leclerc), Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin replaces Fernando Alonso), Oliver Bearman (Haas replaces Niko Hülkenberg), Jack Doohan (Alpine replaces Esteban Ocon), Patricio O’Ward (McLaren replaces Lando Norris), Frederik Vesti (Mercedes replaces Lewis Hamilton), Jake Dennis (Red Bull replaces Max Verstappen), Isack Hadjar (Red Bull replaces Sergio Perez), Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo replaces Zhou Guanyu), Zak O’Sullivan (Williams replaces Alex Albon).

Meet our rookies taking part in Friday’s FP1 session! 👀

Including eight @Formula2 stars! 🤩

It is mandatory for all F1 teams to run rookie drivers on at least two occasions during the 2023 season#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/WOHtdxPZSz

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2023

Note: The given text contains HTML tags and a Twitter script, which cannot be directly translated. The translation provided is the text within the HTML tags.

The first roll of wheels

It was Lance Stroll who lifted the curtain on the finale of this season. Quickly, Russell set the best time on medium tires with a lap time of 1:27.673.

Jake Dennis was experiencing a small helmet issue, which forced him to return to the pits to fix it.

Patricio O’Ward treated us to a slight skid at the entrance of the finish straight, undoubtedly an unintended move. For all these young drivers, an adjustment time was necessary, as they are not used to driving these single-seaters.

Despite some small complaints on the radio about the handling for Russell, he improved his time with a 1:26.963.

With just over 40 minutes left in the practice session, it was time for Théo Pourchaire to take to the track. After not being able to set a time during the first session of the Mexican GP, he finally managed to do so here in Abu Dhabi, with a time of 1:29.750 on hard tires. He complained about a significant bounce from his car in turns 2 and 3.

At the halfway point, the regular drivers naturally occupied the top positions in the standings.

Jack Doohan had a close call in the final corner: he narrowly avoided a collision with a slow-moving Logan Sargeant. The Williams driver complained about the late announcement of Jack Doohan’s approach over the radio. Isack Hadjar candidly expressed himself on the radio, explaining that he needed to increase his pace because he had been below the car’s limits up until now.

📻 “J’ai failli avoir le plus gros accident de ma vie.”

Jack Doohan évite de justesse l’accident avec Logan Sargeant 🥵

L’incident est sous enquête ⚠️#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/0fneVfvuBh

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) November 24, 2023

Drivers are lowering their lap times on soft tires

Frederik Vesti clocked the 4th fastest time on soft tires with a lap of 1:27.098, just over a second slower than George Russell. He was then in the best position among the “young talents.” He even improved his time by going below the 1 minute and 27 seconds mark (1:26.815). He climbed up to provisional 3rd place.

Théo Pourchaire put on new soft tires: a real privilege for a test driver! He set a time that placed him in 16th position with a time of 1:27.701.

Note that Jake Dennis had the highest top speed. The Formula E champion of 2023 reached 329km/h behind the wheel of Max Verstappen’s single-seater. His neighboring garage mate, Isack Hadjar, reached 327 km/h.

Lance Stroll also had his moment coming out of the last corner, just like Patricio O’Ward earlier! Zak O’Sullivan did the same a few minutes later behind the wheel of the Williams.

All the drivers were switching to the softest tires, with the hierarchy constantly changing. Russell also put on the red tire and solidified his first place with a time of 1:26.072. Isack Hadjar provided us with the 11th fastest time, quickly surpassed, in 1:27.244. He was less than 4 hundredths behind Jake Dennis, his teammate for the day at Red Bull.

With 8 minutes left in the session, the timers were going crazy. Robert Shwartzman set the 6th fastest time, while Felipe Drugovich set the 2nd fastest time in 1:26.406!

Carlos Sainz, on a fast lap, didn’t manage to do better than 6th just ahead of Robert Shwartzman. The Ferrari cars, very fast in a straight line, were struggling immensely in the final sector.

Lance Stroll launched himself for a final timed lap and, like the Ferraris, he lost all hope in the last sector: he finished in 5th place, behind Felipe Drugovich.

At the checkered flag, George Russell still held the first position ahead of Felipe Drugovich and Daniel Ricciardo. On the French side, Pierre Gasly finished 9th, Théo Pourchaire 14th, and Isack Hadjar 17th. The latter had a scary moment at the end, as Stroll, just in front of him, almost got in his way while slowing down.

After the last departure procedures, this session ended in the late afternoon in Abu Dhabi!

The ranking of Free Practice 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix