Ferrari FP1 report: Charles Leclerc P3, Robert Shwartzman P7 | 2022 F1 Abu Dhabi GP. Ferrari FP1 report.

For the final time this F1 campaign, welcome to start of a Grand Prix weekend. As ever with the last race of the F1 season, there are many drivers who we’re saying goodbye to… although maybe not for good. Nicholas Latifi is leaving Williams, Mick Schumacher is leaving Haas, and Daniel Ricciardo is also off the grid as he leaves McLaren.

Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo in particular will fancy their chances of getting back on the grid at some stage. Another man we are saying goodbye to this weekend is the legendary Sebastian Vettel following a glittering career at Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari and Aston Martin among others.

There is still plenty to be decided over the course of the weekend, as the light went green at the end of the pit lane and the Abu Dhabi GP weekend was officially under way. There were a few unfamiliar faces immediately out on track: with several teams needing to complete their obliged young driver sessions for the season, we had eight changes to the driver line-up for Practice One.

The swaps were as follows:
Ferrari – Robert Shwartzman replaces Carlos Sainz
Aston Martin – Felipe Drugovich replaces Lance Stroll
McLaren – Pato O’Ward replaces Lando Norris
Red Bull – Liam Lawson replaces Max Verstappen
Alpine – Jack Doohan replaces Fernando Alonso
Alfa Romeo – Robert Kubica replaces Zhou Guanyu
Haas – Pietro Fittipaldi replaces Mick Schumacher
Williams – Logan Sargeant replaces Nicholas Latifi

One of those young drivers was already having issues with his car in the start of FP1 as Pato O’Ward slowly worked his way around the track in his McLaren: “Something is going on with the car,” he told his team.

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After the opening exchanges, it was Sergio Perez who sat top of the timesheet. The Red Bull driver did a 1:28.159 to knock Charles Leclerc, his rival for second in the drivers’ championship, off top spot. The other Red Bull, being driven by Liam Lawson, was third.

There was a heart in mouth moment for Logan Sargeant: the young American, who is set to drive full-time for Williams in F1 next season, had a big moment at Turn 1. He locked up his rears and spun, but has stopped inches short of the barrier, meaning his session should be able to carry on without issue. The only problem was that he ruined a set of tyres, but that could have been a lot worse.

Alex Albon in his Williams went fastest midway through the first free practice session, knocking the contenders for second place down the timesheet. They were also separated by Esteban Ocon ahead of Charles in third. Further back, Lewis Hamilton improved slightly to get up to P8, but in the first 35 minutes we did not see anything representative from Mercedes.

Valtteri Bottas momentarily took top spot from Albon, before Sergio Perez made a major improvement: his 1:26.967 put him almost 0.7s clear of the Alfa Romeo. Charles Leclerc was looking to respond to Sergio Perez going top of the timesheet but it all went wrong at the opening corner as he lost control and was forced to abandon his lap: “Got a snap at the exit of Turn 1,” he told his team over the team radio.

Mercedes then went onto soft tyres, and the results were impressive: Lewis Hamilton went fastest with a 1:26.633, and George Russell finished his first fast run a couple of tenths behind him second. After his mishap, Charles Leclerc did go faster than Serio Perez and is just behind Russell in third. Of course, we were without the benchmark that was world champion Max Verstappen in this session, but that looked pretty encouraging for Mercedes.

An unrepresentative first free practice session for the 2022 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand prix given the Yas Marina track conditions, with Lewis Hamilton leading George Russell in an all-silver one-two in first practice. Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez finish third and fourth for Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull, who will see Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen return later after sitting out P1.