Story byMotorsport photoEd HardySat, December 6, 2025 at 11:51 AM UTC·3 min readGeorge Russell narrowly beat Lando Norris in a red flag affected final practice at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as title hopeful Max Verstappen completed the top three. The Mercedes driver set a 1m23.334s, which put him just 0.004s above the championship leader - who topped both Friday practice sessions to look like the man to beat at Yas Marina. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis comes on the final weekend of the 2025 season, where Norris may clinch a maiden title as he is 12 points above second-placed Verstappen with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri a further four points behind. Despite that, it was still a slow start to FP3 with teams reluctant to burn through tyre sets in unrepresentative conditions, considering it began two and a half hours before the grand prix is scheduled to do so on Sunday. The opening 15 minutes therefore saw just the Alpine drivers set proper laps, but then the track slightly ramped up and Norris immediately set the pace with a 1m24.728s on soft tyres. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat was the preferred rubber for most, and initially drivers struggled to beat the lap time Norris set – even if the McLaren racer improved again by 0.195s as the session approached halfway. Lando Norris, McLarenLando Norris, McLarenBut that’s when track evolution started to become apparent, by which point the whole grid was finally out on the circuit meaning everything was now very busy with traffic a concern. Norris, for example, swerved to avoid a slow Yuki Tsunoda into Turn 12, while Liam Lawson also had trouble with Esteban Ocon ahead, yet some drivers still managed to complete clean laps. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementVerstappen was one of them and the Red Bull world champion went top with a 1m24.245s, which was 0.059s quicker than Lance Stroll and 0.086s better than Oliver Bearman. The top three was, seemingly, randomised due to the track evolution as Norris had dropped to sixth with Piastri 15th. However, the very busy period came to an abrupt end when Lewis Hamilton spun into the Turn 9 barrier with 29 minutes remaining. This brought out the first red flag of the weekend as the Ferrari driver reported that “something buckled at the front and snapped the rear” as he hit the apex. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFP3 resumed with 18 minutes remaining, and many used the final stages as an opportunity to complete further quali runs. This meant that lap times continued to get quicker, starting with Verstappen who set a 1m24.116s. Lewis Hamilton, FerrariLewis Hamilton, FerrariBut moments later, Piastri stormed to the top with a time that was 0.523s quicker than Verstappen, before Norris beat his team-mate by 0.255s thanks to a stellar final sector. Drama also occurred in the pitlane as Mercedes released Andrea Kimi Antonelli straight into Tsunoda, whose session therefore ended on the spot due to the collision. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementTeams were clearly in a rush to get laps in at the end as times were continuing to fall, especially at the top as Russell then went fastest with a 1m23.334s in the final minutes. It was a time that went unbeaten, meaning Russell topped the session by 0.004s ahead of Norris with Verstappen completing the top three, 0.180s off the Mercedes driver. Fernando Alonso then claimed a shock fourth, 0.251s behind Russell, with Piastri a further 0.008s behind in fifth as Haas performed strongly with sixth (Esteban Ocon) and seventh (Oliver Bearman). AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFP3 wasn’t so good for Ferrari, though, as the best it could muster was eighth through Charles Leclerc, 0.341s off top, with Antonelli and Alex Albon completing the top 10. Read Also: How Red Bull expects Isack Hadjar to step up: “He has to control his emotions" Yuki Tsunoda “too far away” with 17th in FP2: “I don’t know what’s going on” F1 Abu Dhabi GP - FP3 resultsTo read more Motorsport. com articles.