McLaren maintained top spot with another 1-2 in FP3 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP where Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton in third.
It was chilled out in FP3 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina Circuit, as McLaren maintained top spot at the front with Oscar Piastri (1m23.433s) leading teammate Lando Norris with a good margin over the rest of the field, where Lewis Hamilton rounded out the Top 3.
It was a late push lap from Hamilton on a used set to end up third to demote Max Verstappen to fourth late in the day. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ George Russell were fifth and sixth eventually, ahead of the Haas pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen in seventh and eighth.
They were ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc initially but the Brit improved to third, while the Monegasque improved but was only ninth still. He did not feel good with the car at all, as the Top 10 was rounded out by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Like Hamilton, it was a late improvement from Perez who demoted Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda to 11th and Williams’ Alexander Albon in 12th. The Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan were close to each other in 13th and 14th, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso only 15th.
Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was 16th from Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Williams’ Franco Colapinto, to round out the 20 runners in the final practice session of the 2024 F1 season.
In other news, Liberty Media announced the return of Chase Carey after he was appointed on board of directors of the company’s Executive Committee from January 1 of 2025. He returns to the fold after ending his term as F1 CEO between 2017 and 2021.
“Chase has been an excellent partner to Liberty for many years, from our investment in DIRECTV in 2008 to Liberty’s purchase of Formula 1 in 2017 where his role as CEO was key to securing the acquisition,” said Liberty Media’s John Malone.
“He was instrumental in building a successful foundation at F1 from which the business has grown materially. Chase’s knowledge and expertise across media, entertainment, sports, business and more will be valuable to the board as our companies execute on their next chapters of growth and value creation.”
Meanwhile, Carey added: “Liberty is at an exciting point in its storied evolution, with a more focused asset base centered around high-quality, premium sporting assets that I know well. I look forward to contributing to Liberty as a director in partnership with John, Liberty management and the portfolio company leadership teams.”
Here’s what was said after Friday in F1 Abu Dhabi GP
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