George Russell Stuns Title Contenders to Top Decisive FP3
George Russell ended the final practice session of the 2025 season on top at Yas Marina, edging Lando Norris by four thousandths of a second as preparations for the title decider reached a dramatic peak. Max Verstappen finished third, 0.124s off the Mercedes driver, with Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri completing the top five.
Championship on a knife edge
Norris leads the standings by 12 points from Verstappen with Piastri a further four behind. A podium for Norris on Sunday guarantees him his first world title regardless of other results. Verstappen must win and hope Norris finishes fourth or lower, while Piastri needs at least sixth to keep his chances alive should he triumph.
The McLaren driver had dominated both Friday sessions and arrived at FP3 as the clear favourite, yet Saturday’s final run proved far less straightforward.
Early laps in unrepresentative conditions
Temperatures reached 28 degrees Celsius with a track temperature of 37.6 degrees. Those conditions meant FP3 was less reflective of qualifying and the race which both run after sunset. Teams mixed compounds, with softs, mediums and hards all appearing early on as drivers focused more on balance than outright times.
Norris continued to look sharp from the start, setting a 1m 24.728s on his opening run. Verstappen briefly moved ahead with a 1m 24.245s as Red Bull recovered well from a difficult FP1 on Friday.
Norris avoids incident with Tsunoda
A tense moment came when Norris encountered Yuki Tsunoda crawling on the racing line. The McLaren man was forced wide over the kerbs and the stewards confirmed the incident would be investigated after the session for possible impeding.
Hamilton crashes as red flags fly
Lewis Hamilton brought out the red flags after spinning into the barriers at Turn 9. The Ferrari driver appeared to lose the rear in turbulent air and took slight kerb on entry before snapping sideways. His front wing and suspension suffered damage, ending his session early and leaving Ferrari with a sizeable repair job before qualifying.
Here's what happened to Lewis 💥#F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/YBZRvnH15k
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 6, 2025
At the stoppage Verstappen topped the timesheets by 0.059s from Lance Stroll with Ollie Bearman and Hamilton also inside the top four.
Late chaos in the pit lane
The restart delivered instant drama when Mercedes released teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli into the path of Tsunoda. The pair made contact in the fast lane with Antonelli losing his front wing and Tsunoda returning to the Red Bull garage with potential floor and sidepod damage. The stewards will also investigate the unsafe release.
Antonelli has hit Tsunoda in the pit lane 💥
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 6, 2025
Carbon fibre everywhere and the stewards are investigating the Mercedes driver for an unsafe release#F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/9q0qb8Wcae
Final flying laps shuffle the order
Fresh soft tyres appeared across the field and the times tumbled. Piastri produced a storming lap to go quickest by half a second, offering a timely boost after a difficult Friday that included two errors on soft-tyre runs.
Norris then hit back, going purple in the final sector to retake the lead by 0.255s despite a mistake earlier in the lap. However Russell soon stunned the front-runners with a 1m 23.941s, stealing top spot by the narrowest of margins.
Verstappen improved again but had to settle for third as the chequered flag fell.
Wide open ahead of qualifying
Russell’s late effort ensured Mercedes will be a serious factor in qualifying while Haas, Kick Sauber and Aston Martin also showed strong pace. Alonso in particular looked confident in race trim and could cause trouble for the title contenders on Sunday.
For now though, the stage is set. Norris retains the upper hand yet Verstappen and Piastri remain firmly in the fight as the grid prepares for a decisive qualifying session under the Abu Dhabi lights.
