British driver Lando Norris led Australian teammate Oscar Piastri in second practice on Friday as McLaren turned up the heat in their bid to secure the constructors' title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had led the first practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit, ahead of Norris and Lewis Hamilton, but the Monegasque driver was subsequently penalized for taking a new battery pack into his car. Leclerc's 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race jeopardizes the Italian team's bid to win its first constructors' title since 2008.
Ferrari is trying to erase a 21-point deficit to leader McLaren, who last won the constructors' title this weekend in 1998.
Norris clocked one minute and 23.517 seconds to beat Piastri by two-tenths of a second, ahead of third-placed Nico Hulkenberg of Haas.
Carlos Sainz was fourth in the second Ferrari, followed by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, the British driver in his final race weekend with Mercedes.
Leclerc was sixth in the second Ferrari, ahead of Sauber's Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas, Williams' Alex Albon and RB's Yuki Tsunoda.
Mercedes' embattled George Russell and newly crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen struggled to find the pace, finishing 13th and 17th respectively in a largely uneventful twilight session.
It started in cool conditions after a hot day as the sun set over Abu Dhabi, with RB's Liam Lawson setting the early pace in 1:25.537 before Leclerc took over and then Norris. Hamilton came second and repeated the top three from the opening practice.
– Verstappen baby news –
Verstappen, who complained about his performance on the front axle, had sat out the earlier run when the news that he would become a father for the first time with Kelly Piquet, daughter of Brazil's three-time world champion Nelson Piquet, was confirmed in a social media post .
Piquet has a daughter, born in 2019, with former Red Bull driver Russian Daniil Kvyat.
“The understeer is ridiculous,” the Dutchman reported on team radio, while Russell, with whom he has had a spectacular, bitter falling out, said his “cockpit is still quite warm”, referring to the temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (80 .6 Fahrenheit). ).
Between sessions, Red Bull's chief Christian Horner had hit back at Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's description of him as a “yapping little terrier” for interfering in the Verstappen-Russell feud by calling the Mercedes driver to be described as “hysterical”.
“I love terriers,” Horner said. 'I think they're great dogs. I've had four. I'd rather be a terrier than a wolf.'
Norris's lap of 1:24.332 kept him at the top, ahead of Leclerc and Sainz with Perez fourth until Magnussen was second for Haas to revise the order, followed by Piastri as conditions changed in the twilight zone and soft tire runs began.
With 27 minutes to go, Piastri briefly took first place before Norris replied. The McLarens showed how eager they are to clinch the team's first title since 1998, as Leclerc led Ferrari's response to take sixth, six-tenths off the pace.
“Half the grid is sleeping,” Leclerc complained. “They're in the way.”
Norris shortened his lap to 1:23.517 with Piastri two-tenths behind, ahead of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Hamilton with 11 minutes remaining. Russell was 13th and Verstappen 17th for the final runs under the lights.
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