George Russell dominated the opening practice session at the Abu Dhabi GP as several leading F1 names watched from the garage as 10 rookies took to the Yas Marina Circuit; watch Practice Two live on Sky Sports F1 at 1pm on Friday, with lights out on Sunday also at 1pm
Friday 24 November 2023 15:16, UK
George Russell topped first practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from Aston Martin rookie Felipe Drugovich in a session without some of F1's biggest names including Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Ten rookies replaced the regular drivers in the opening session as all the teams, apart from AlphaTauri, completed the mandatory requirement of running a rookie in each of their cars during a season.
Verstappen, Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso were among the drivers who didn't take part in practice one at the Yas Marina Circuit, but will be back in their cars when the second Friday session begins at 1pm - live on Sky Sports F1.
Russell's 1:26.072 was only 0.288s ahead of an impressive time from Drugovich, who was Lance Stroll's substitute in pre-season testing earlier this year after the Canadian had a bike accident.
Daniel Ricciardo was third for AlphaTauri on a weekend where their long-serving boss Franz Tost will leave the team after 17 years in charge.
Valtteri Bottas, Stroll, Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz followed behind, with Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman the second best rookie of the session in eighth.
Frederik Vesti, who replaced Hamilton, finished in 12th and the Red Bull rookies of Formula E world champion Jake Dennis was 16th and Isack Hadjar in 17th - both less than 1.2 seconds behind Russell's leading time.
Halfway through the session, there was nearly a huge accident between Alpine junior Jack Doohan and Williams' Logan Sargeant.
Sargeant was going slowly to prepare for a push lap around the penultimate corner then swerved to the right just before the last turn and nearly collided with Doohan, who had to take avoiding action with a big jink to the right.
Doohan said he "almost had the biggest accident of my life" as Sargeant apologised for the incident, which will be investigated after the session.
There were a few other scary moments at that part of the track due to a tail wind, which put several drivers all out of shape with Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Williams' Zak O'Sullivan all having big slides.
Friday November 24
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After the thrills of Las Vegas, Formula 1 heads to Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit for the 2023 season finale and another stunning spectacle under the lights. Watch the Abu Dhabi weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with lights out on Sunday at 1pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
