As it happened: 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix third practice

This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.

Third practice for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is coming up next

The final practice session of the season at Yas Marina often gest off to a slow start as the track tends to be hot while the drivers know the two remaining sessions will take place around nightfall. They will want to do most of their running towards the end of the hour as the track temperatures fall.

McLaren led the way comfortably yesterday but several of their rivals appears not to be pushing their cars as hard. Max Verstappen, notably, was a clearly unrepresentative 17th in his Red Bull. George Russell said he was prioritising test work for 2025 in his Mercedes.

The Aston Martin drivers have joined the track to scrub a set of hard tyres, but that might be all the action we get for a while.

Fernando Alonso: “I think it’s going to be a good day. I havea good feeling.” He ended first practice yesterday saying he had his “worst car ever.”

The Alpine drivers are first to put up times. Jack Doohan goes quickest with a 1’25.633. Pierre Gasly got very loose on the exit kerb at turn five.

Lance Stroll puts up the quickest time with a 1’25.928. We’ve got eight cars on-track now including Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

The track is getting busier now. Haas, who looked competitive yesterday, lead the times with Kevin Magnussen on a 1’24.470 on softs, three-tenths up on Lando Norris.

Verstappen, who clearly didn’t show his hand yesterday, puts up a 1’24.985 which is the fastest lap on the medium tyre compound so far, half a second off Magnussen’s soft-tyre time.

Unusually, RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson are running the hard tyres at the moment. Most drivers have been avoiding those as they expect to need them in the race.

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Russell: “Not sure what’s going on. Car feels okay, just very slow.” He’s 19th so far on a 1’26.027.

Zhou Guanyu not happy to find a Red Bull on the apex of of turn three. “What the fuck, Perez?”

Worrying smoke from the back of Carlos Sainz Jnr as he goes through the first sector. He backs off significantly around the rest of the lap and pits. Ferrari already have a grid penalty on Leclerc’s car due to a power unit problem yesterday – is this more bad luck?

Lawson reports he went off at turn six. He’s slowest at the moment, though he is running the hard tyres.

Drivers are doing performance runs on softs now. Oscar Piastri sets a 1’23.433 to go quickest, Russell is six-tenths off that. Norris makes it a McLaren one-two, just under two-tenths off his team mate.

Verstappen pops into third place with a 1’23.844, four-tenths off Piastri. The Haas pair underline their strong pace, fifth and sixth so far.

Verstappen: “My brakes are not working. My front axles is not biting. It’s like they’re glazed or something.”

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Hamilton laps six-hundredths off Russell but the Haas pair are separating them so he’s only seventh. Leclerc slots in behind him in eighth – one-lap pace matters less to him due to his penalty. Sainz manages fourth in the other Ferrari.

Hamilton now pops up to third place, 1’23.823, behind the rapid McLarens.

Does Alonso still feel as positive at the end of the session as he did at the beginning? Aston Martin are slowest so far.

Aston Martin have left their performance runs until the very end. Stroll improves to 17th, Alonso 15th, which means they’re at least faster than Sauber. But escaping Q1 may prove a challenge for them.

The chequered flag falls and it’s McLaren first and second in the final practice session of 2024.

Here’s our report on the final practice session of 2024

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• Did Tsunoda ‘destroy’ his team mates – and are Red Bull wrong to pick Lawson over him?
• McLaren were ‘0.7 seconds away from losing the title’ in Abu Dhabi – Brown
• Another name change for RB and new driver numbers revealed in 2025 F1 entry list
• Ranked: The Formula 1 cars of 2024, from slowest to fastest
• McLaren are world champions with fewest grand prix wins in 25 years

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