Our Final Friday Practice In F1
The final Friday of the 2021 season is in the books and it was a productive day for both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri at the updated Yas Marina Circuit.
The home of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been remodelled since Max’s victory here last year, with two chicanes removed and replaced with higher-speed corners, as well as tweaks to the final sector. FP1 was spent getting used to the changes and Max duly picked up where he left off last season, topping the times in the first session.
Sergio was fourth quickest - 0.3s adrift of Max - with Yuki enjoying a particularly strong start, posting the fifth fastest time, just 0.015s behind the second Red Bull. Pierre made it four Honda-powered cars in the top seven as we enjoyed some encouraging early signs.
Like the previous two rounds, FP2 was the more representative session as it took place at sunset to match qualifying and the race. Under the floodlights, Max was fourth fastest ahead of Sergio in fifth, while Yuki was seventh and Pierre tenth as the focus shifted to race pace ahead of Sunday’s title decider.