Norris moves closer to first F1 title after outperforming Verstappen in Abu Dhabi GP

Lando Norris moved closer to winning his first F1 Championship after finishing just ahead of Max Verstappen in Friday practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

There exists only a 12-point difference between the top two - Norris and Verstappen.

Norris finished first, 0.363s ahead of Red Bull’s Verstappen, whose chances of winning the championship have gotten slim. McLaren’s Norris will win the title if he finishes on the podium in Sunday’s race.

Whereas, the Red Bull athlete will have to do more:

• Win if Norris finishes outside the top three
• Finish second if Norris is outside the top seven

Oscar Piastri, third in the title race, finished 11th in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He is 16-points behind Norris.

According to McLaren, the team will give orders in the case Piastri loses his opportunity before the race and Norris requires a certain position.

Norris outperformed in both single lap and long run simulation, defeating Verstappen by 0.209 seconds in total. Verstappen completed nearly twice the number of laps.

Verstappen was within 0.075 seconds of the Red Bull's timing before tyre wear slowed down the car in the first eight laps.

The 26-year-old British race-car driver said that he was motivated but not all pleased with the car saying that the team is still working on the setup. 

Verstappen, 28, described his day as pretty ok, adding, that Red Bull must be a little quicker.

George Russell finished third and Haas rookie Oliver Bearman was fourth on the timesheets. Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber were fifth and sixth.

Famed Lewis Hamilton finished 14th.