Formula 1’s back-to-back swing through the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone has reshaped the 2026 championship in ways few saw coming a fortnight ago.

At Spielberg, George Russell converted a controversial pole — set under yellow flags — into his second win of the season, holding off a fast-recovering Max Verstappen. The result pushed Russell back to second in the standings and cut Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead to 40 points, even as the Mercedes rookie’s third-place finish kept his team’s advantage at the top intact.

Days later at Lewis Hamilton’s home Grand Prix, it was Charles Leclerc who crossed the chequered flag ahead of the pack to secure his first win in well over a year. However, the headlines belonged just as much to the race’s chaotic finish following confusion surrounding the safety car restart procedure.

Same narrative

Two circuits, two very different races, but the same underlying narrative: a title fight that’s no longer a formality for anyone at the front.

Saturday’s qualifying in Austria set the tone for what followed. Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader heading into the weekend, aborted his final flying lap after mistaking single waved flags for a double-yellow zone, dropping down to fourth. With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton sandwiched between the two Mercedes drivers, the grid was set for a tense Sunday.

Russell converted pole into a clean getaway, while behind him, the opening laps were scrappy. Antonelli ran wide almost immediately and rejoined in fourth, then went off-track again a lap later — forcing him to hand a position back after being flagged for gaining an advantage. It was a rough start for a driver who had looked untouchable through practice and qualifying, and he later admitted as much, saying he’d gotten “too excited” in the opening exchanges.

Further back, Hamilton was making his own case for the podium. He muscled past Leclerc for second early on, temporarily putting a Ferrari-Mercedes-Red Bull sandwich on its head. However, the Ferrari challenge faded away in the latter stages of the race and it was Verstappen who did the more sustained work. Starting fifth after his qualifying crash, the Red Bull driver spent the middle stint locked in a physical battle with Hamilton before working his way up to second — setting up a genuine grandstand finish as he closed on Russell in the closing laps. Despite the scorching Spielberg conditions and 4-time champion’s late surge, the British Driver crossed the line to take his second win of the season, finishing 1.986 seconds clear of Antonelli in the final reckoning — with Verstappen splitting the two Mercedes drivers in second.

Russell’s win moved him back past Hamilton and up to second in the drivers’ championship, cutting Antonelli’s lead at the top to 40 points. The Bologna native’s third place — messy as the drive was — still did enough to protect Mercedes’ overall advantage in the standings even as his individual buffer over Russell shrank.

Elsewhere, the picture was mixed. McLaren secured a double points finish with Oscar Piastri finishing fourth and Lando Norris seventh, while Ferrari left Austria with Hamilton fifth and Leclerc down in eighth — a quiet weekend by the Scuderia’s recent standards, reportedly attributed to over-focusing on Mercedes rather than their own car. Racing Bulls had reason to celebrate, with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad scoring ninth and 10th, respectively.

Antonelli, for his part, takes the more instructive lesson from Spielberg — his pace was never in question, but a series of avoidable errors under pressure cost him a result that once looked routine. Verstappen’s recovery from fifth was arguably Red Bull’s most encouraging drive of the season. A driver who crashed out of contention for pole on Saturday produced exactly the kind of measured, race-long fightback that has defined his career, applying sustained pressure on Russell without the benefit of track position.

While Ferrari had a subdued weekend, with both cars outside the top four, the Scuderia’s underwhelming weekend would attract some scrutiny. For a team hoping to challenge for the title, a quiet weekend at the Red Bull Ring is one it can scarcely afford as the championship enters its more competitive phase.

Formula 1 arrived at Silverstone with barely time to catch its breath after Austria — and the British Grand Prix weekend wasted no time delivering drama of its own. After securing Spring Pole at his home race, Lewis Hamilton held the lead off the line at Turn 1, resisting early pressure from Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver never let the gap grow. On lap 8, Antonelli made his move down the Hangar Straight into Stowe, seizing the lead and pulling clear to win by 2.745 seconds — his first career Sprint victory. Norris completed the podium, ahead of Russell and Leclerc, while Verstappen faded to sixth after a poor start. The result extended Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell to 43 points.

Antonelli backed up his Sprint win by topping qualifying outright and claiming pole position, with Leclerc second and Hamilton third for Ferrari. Russell could only manage fourth, surviving an off in Q1, as McLaren and Red Bull fought over the next four positions behind him.

Deserving attention

Sunday’s British Grand Prix will be remembered less for its outcome than for the extraordinary way it ended — but the race itself deserved attention on its own merits. Leclerc converted pole into control early, with Hamilton unwittingly playing shield at the front after complaining of graining, allowing the Monegasque to build a four-second cushion. Antonelli, however, was the fastest man on track. He cleared Hamilton at Copse on lap 11 and began chasing down Leclerc, closing to within three seconds by the time the Ferrari came into the pits on Lap 25.

What followed looked, for a long stretch, like the coronation of Formula 1’s championship leader. Antonelli, running on fresher rubber, had steadily eaten into Leclerc’s lead, and by the closing stages the gap between them stood at barely two seconds — the young Italian looked on course to overhaul him and take the win. Then it unravelled. Antonelli radioed that something had broken on his car, a wheel shield failure that forced two unplanned stops and ultimately dropped him out of contention entirely.

With Antonelli’s threat neutralised, the remaining drama centred on Russell and Hamilton. A slow puncture had earlier cost Russell track position to Hamilton, but the sequence reversed when Max Verstappen crashed heavily at Stowe on lap 48, losing the rear of his Red Bull for the second consecutive weekend.

The incident triggered a safety car, and both the Ferrari drivers pitted for fresh tyres – while Russell, gambling on used mediums, stayed out and jumped Hamilton in the process.

It’s what happened next that dominated the headlines. With just laps remaining, race control displayed a “Safety Car In This Lap” message, suggesting a green-flag restart and one lap shootout for glory at Silverstone. The message was then withdrawn, the safety car stayed out, and the race finished in formation — the first time an F1 race had ended fully behind the safety car since Monza 2022. The FIA later confirmed the message had been shown in error due to a software fault, and that regulations under Article B5.13.5 required a full lap to be completed following the unlapping procedure regardless.

Leclerc crossed the line to end a winless run stretching back to Austin 2024, with Russell claiming second just 0.427 seconds behind after his tyre gamble paid off, and Hamilton completing the podium — though facing a separate yellow-flag investigation that was later resolved with only a reprimand.

Antonelli was classified 16th after a five-second penalty for track-limits violations compounded his mechanical misfortune. Norris took fourth, with Hadjar and the Racing Bulls pair of Lawson and Lindblad rounding out the points.

Exposing the vulnerability

Antonelli remains the fastest driver on the grid more often than not, but Spielberg and Silverstone both exposed the same vulnerability — small errors and bad luck combining at exactly the wrong moments.

A five-second penalty here, a wheel shield failure there, and the championship fight looks a lot more intense than it did a month ago in Monaco. Russell, meanwhile, has turned himself into the man applying that pressure.

A win in Austria followed by a hard-fought second at Silverstone has moved him past Hamilton put him in the rearview mirror of Antonelli.

For Ferrari, Silverstone offered exactly the response a title-chasing team needed after Austria. A week after both cars left Spielberg anonymously outside the top four, Leclerc’s win alongside Hamilton’s third-place finish allowed the Scuderia to marginally close the gap in the Constructors’ Championship.

Circumstance and substance

Circumstance played its part — Antonelli’s late mechanical failure handed Leclerc a victory he may not have claimed on pace alone — but the substance behind the result was harder to dismiss. Leclerc controlled long stretches of the race from the front, while Hamilton could consider himself a little unlucky at the lack of a restart.

If Ferrari’s own admission of over-focusing on Mercedes was the diagnosis for Austria, Silverstone at least suggested the correction is taking hold. The real test now lies ahead: proving this was the start of a sustained title push rather than one bright weekend in an otherwise inconsistent campaign.

Two rounds, two winners, and a championship that suddenly feels wide open. Antonelli still leads, but the margin is shrinking race by race, and both Russell and Ferrari have shown they’re capable of capitalising when the moment arrives.

The next few rounds will tell us whether Austria and Silverstone were the start of a genuine four-way fight, or simply the mid-season wobble every dominant campaign goes through. Either way, the title race has found its edge again — and it’s about to get interesting.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc celebrates on the podium after winning the British Grand Prix with Mercedes’ George Russell who finished second, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton who finished third and Ferrari race engineer Bryan Bozzi on July 5, 2026. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Formula 1’s back-to-back swing through the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone has reshaped the 2026 championship in ways few saw coming a fortnight ago.

At Spielberg, George Russell converted a controversial pole — set under yellow flags — into his second win of the season, holding off a fast-recovering Max Verstappen. The result pushed Russell back to second in the standings and cut Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead to 40 points, even as the Mercedes rookie’s third-place finish kept his team’s advantage at the top intact.

Days later at Lewis Hamilton’s home Grand Prix, it was Charles Leclerc who crossed the chequered flag ahead of the pack to secure his first win in well over a year. However, the headlines belonged just as much to the race’s chaotic finish following confusion surrounding the safety car restart procedure.

Same narrative

Two circuits, two very different races, but the same underlying narrative: a title fight that’s no longer a formality for anyone at the front.

Saturday’s qualifying in Austria set the tone for what followed. Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader heading into the weekend, aborted his final flying lap after mistaking single waved flags for a double-yellow zone, dropping down to fourth. With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton sandwiched between the two Mercedes drivers, the grid was set for a tense Sunday.

Russell converted pole into a clean getaway, while behind him, the opening laps were scrappy. Antonelli ran wide almost immediately and rejoined in fourth, then went off-track again a lap later — forcing him to hand a position back after being flagged for gaining an advantage. It was a rough start for a driver who had looked untouchable through practice and qualifying, and he later admitted as much, saying he’d gotten “too excited” in the opening exchanges.

Further back, Hamilton was making his own case for the podium. He muscled past Leclerc for second early on, temporarily putting a Ferrari-Mercedes-Red Bull sandwich on its head. However, the Ferrari challenge faded away in the latter stages of the race and it was Verstappen who did the more sustained work. Starting fifth after his qualifying crash, the Red Bull driver spent the middle stint locked in a physical battle with Hamilton before working his way up to second — setting up a genuine grandstand finish as he closed on Russell in the closing laps. Despite the scorching Spielberg conditions and 4-time champion’s late surge, the British Driver crossed the line to take his second win of the season, finishing 1.986 seconds clear of Antonelli in the final reckoning — with Verstappen splitting the two Mercedes drivers in second.

Russell’s win moved him back past Hamilton and up to second in the drivers’ championship, cutting Antonelli’s lead at the top to 40 points. The Bologna native’s third place — messy as the drive was — still did enough to protect Mercedes’ overall advantage in the standings even as his individual buffer over Russell shrank.

Elsewhere, the picture was mixed. McLaren secured a double points finish with Oscar Piastri finishing fourth and Lando Norris seventh, while Ferrari left Austria with Hamilton fifth and Leclerc down in eighth — a quiet weekend by the Scuderia’s recent standards, reportedly attributed to over-focusing on Mercedes rather than their own car. Racing Bulls had reason to celebrate, with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad scoring ninth and 10th, respectively.

Antonelli, for his part, takes the more instructive lesson from Spielberg — his pace was never in question, but a series of avoidable errors under pressure cost him a result that once looked routine. Verstappen’s recovery from fifth was arguably Red Bull’s most encouraging drive of the season. A driver who crashed out of contention for pole on Saturday produced exactly the kind of measured, race-long fightback that has defined his career, applying sustained pressure on Russell without the benefit of track position.

While Ferrari had a subdued weekend, with both cars outside the top four, the Scuderia’s underwhelming weekend would attract some scrutiny. For a team hoping to challenge for the title, a quiet weekend at the Red Bull Ring is one it can scarcely afford as the championship enters its more competitive phase.

Formula 1 arrived at Silverstone with barely time to catch its breath after Austria — and the British Grand Prix weekend wasted no time delivering drama of its own. After securing Spring Pole at his home race, Lewis Hamilton held the lead off the line at Turn 1, resisting early pressure from Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver never let the gap grow. On lap 8, Antonelli made his move down the Hangar Straight into Stowe, seizing the lead and pulling clear to win by 2.745 seconds — his first career Sprint victory. Norris completed the podium, ahead of Russell and Leclerc, while Verstappen faded to sixth after a poor start. The result extended Antonelli’s championship lead over Russell to 43 points.

Antonelli backed up his Sprint win by topping qualifying outright and claiming pole position, with Leclerc second and Hamilton third for Ferrari. Russell could only manage fourth, surviving an off in Q1, as McLaren and Red Bull fought over the next four positions behind him.

Deserving attention

Sunday’s British Grand Prix will be remembered less for its outcome than for the extraordinary way it ended — but the race itself deserved attention on its own merits. Leclerc converted pole into control early, with Hamilton unwittingly playing shield at the front after complaining of graining, allowing the Monegasque to build a four-second cushion. Antonelli, however, was the fastest man on track. He cleared Hamilton at Copse on lap 11 and began chasing down Leclerc, closing to within three seconds by the time the Ferrari came into the pits on Lap 25.

What followed looked, for a long stretch, like the coronation of Formula 1’s championship leader. Antonelli, running on fresher rubber, had steadily eaten into Leclerc’s lead, and by the closing stages the gap between them stood at barely two seconds — the young Italian looked on course to overhaul him and take the win. Then it unravelled. Antonelli radioed that something had broken on his car, a wheel shield failure that forced two unplanned stops and ultimately dropped him out of contention entirely.

With Antonelli’s threat neutralised, the remaining drama centred on Russell and Hamilton. A slow puncture had earlier cost Russell track position to Hamilton, but the sequence reversed when Max Verstappen crashed heavily at Stowe on lap 48, losing the rear of his Red Bull for the second consecutive weekend.

The incident triggered a safety car, and both the Ferrari drivers pitted for fresh tyres – while Russell, gambling on used mediums, stayed out and jumped Hamilton in the process.

It’s what happened next that dominated the headlines. With just laps remaining, race control displayed a “Safety Car In This Lap” message, suggesting a green-flag restart and one lap shootout for glory at Silverstone. The message was then withdrawn, the safety car stayed out, and the race finished in formation — the first time an F1 race had ended fully behind the safety car since Monza 2022. The FIA later confirmed the message had been shown in error due to a software fault, and that regulations under Article B5.13.5 required a full lap to be completed following the unlapping procedure regardless.

Leclerc crossed the line to end a winless run stretching back to Austin 2024, with Russell claiming second just 0.427 seconds behind after his tyre gamble paid off, and Hamilton completing the podium — though facing a separate yellow-flag investigation that was later resolved with only a reprimand.

Antonelli was classified 16th after a five-second penalty for track-limits violations compounded his mechanical misfortune. Norris took fourth, with Hadjar and the Racing Bulls pair of Lawson and Lindblad rounding out the points.

Exposing the vulnerability

Antonelli remains the fastest driver on the grid more often than not, but Spielberg and Silverstone both exposed the same vulnerability — small errors and bad luck combining at exactly the wrong moments.

A five-second penalty here, a wheel shield failure there, and the championship fight looks a lot more intense than it did a month ago in Monaco. Russell, meanwhile, has turned himself into the man applying that pressure.

A win in Austria followed by a hard-fought second at Silverstone has moved him past Hamilton put him in the rearview mirror of Antonelli.

For Ferrari, Silverstone offered exactly the response a title-chasing team needed after Austria. A week after both cars left Spielberg anonymously outside the top four, Leclerc’s win alongside Hamilton’s third-place finish allowed the Scuderia to marginally close the gap in the Constructors’ Championship.

Circumstance and substance

Circumstance played its part — Antonelli’s late mechanical failure handed Leclerc a victory he may not have claimed on pace alone — but the substance behind the result was harder to dismiss. Leclerc controlled long stretches of the race from the front, while Hamilton could consider himself a little unlucky at the lack of a restart.

If Ferrari’s own admission of over-focusing on Mercedes was the diagnosis for Austria, Silverstone at least suggested the correction is taking hold. The real test now lies ahead: proving this was the start of a sustained title push rather than one bright weekend in an otherwise inconsistent campaign.

Two rounds, two winners, and a championship that suddenly feels wide open. Antonelli still leads, but the margin is shrinking race by race, and both Russell and Ferrari have shown they’re capable of capitalising when the moment arrives.

The next few rounds will tell us whether Austria and Silverstone were the start of a genuine four-way fight, or simply the mid-season wobble every dominant campaign goes through. Either way, the title race has found its edge again — and it’s about to get interesting.

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, centre, of Italy, smiles after signing a Lego set for a fan ahead of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race on Thursday (April 30, 2026).
| Photo Credit: AP

Mercedes’ George Russell in action during pre-season testing.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the Qatar Grand Prix on November 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

F1 driver Lewis Hamilton testing the Ferrari F1SF 75 on the Fiorano circuit, at Maranello.© AFP

Lando Norris coolly claimed victory in a tense, emotional and incident-filled Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to deliver McLaren’s first constructors’ championship in 26 years as Lewis Hamilton finished a remarkable fourth in his final race for Mercedes. The 25-year-old Norris came home 5.832 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz and his team-mate Charles Leclerc to end Ferrari’s title challenge on a night of accidents, penalties and tantrums under the floodlights at the Yas Marina Circuit. “Papaya on top!” said Norris on his slowdown lap after the season-closing race.

“Congrats to everyone. Incredible. So proud of you all. You all deserve this. It’s been a special one. Next year is going to be my year too.”

McLaren had not won the teams’ title since 1998, the year before Norris was born, and started the day with a lead of 21 points and a front row lockout, but saw Oscar Piastri sent spinning in a clash with newly-crowned four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull at the first corner.

This encouraged Ferrari, with Leclerc starting 19th on the grid, and they mounted a defiant if vain bid for glory, finishing second and third ahead of Hamilton, who passed team-mate George Russell on the final lap.

Russell came home fifth ahead of Verstappen, who was one of several drivers to be handed a 10 second penalty for his crash into Piastri, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly with Nico Hulkenberg taking eighth for Haas.

Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin and Piastri, after a battling drive, 10th in the second McLaren.

‘Stupid idiots’

In hot, dry and clear conditions, Norris made a clean start from his eighth pole of the year to lead into Turn One where Verstappen attacked Piastri on the inside and made contact with his car to send both spinning.

Piastri waited to rejoin in 20th and last, but Verstappen squeezed back into 11th as team-mate Sergio Perez’s miserable season concluded with a spin out at Turn Six after contact with Valtteri Bottas’s Sauber.

Leclerc, with a scintillating surge on the opening lap, rose from 19th to eight.

Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for his ‘dive bomb’ move on Piastri, who reported “yep, move of a world champion there” on McLaren team radio.

After a brief Safety Car intervention, Piastri hit the rear of Franco Colapinto’s Williams, forcing the Argentine to pit with a puncture. Piastri also pitted for fresh hards before being given a 10-second penalty, as was Bottas for his part in ending Perez’s race.

At the front, Norris led Sainz by 2.7 seconds ahead of Gasly and Russell as Leclerc climbed to sixth by lap 10 when Hamilton, having started 16th as the only man on hards, was up to 12th. For Norris, knowing a win was essential for McLaren, the pressure was on.

Haas began the pit stops on lap 12 with others following to lift Hamilton to fifth on lap 21.

Sainz pitted from second in 2.2 seconds after 26 laps, gifting Norris a lead of 26.2 before he pitted, ahead of Russell, and rejoined with a one second advantage on the Spaniard. Verstappen, yet to stop, was third before pitting, taking his penalty and emerging 11th.

“Could we ask for 20 seconds?” asked Verstappen with sarcastic venom. “Stupid idiots.”

Bottas and Magnussen, a duo in their likely final F1 races, then collided on lap 31.

“Isn’t that just great?” said the Dane. He pitted and rejoined on softs while the Finn retired.

‘Lewis, it’s hammer time’

On lap 34, Hamilton, dreaming of a podium, finally pitted from third for his mediums, taking seventh ahead of Alonso and Verstappen, a trio of 13 title wins. Norris led Sainz by 3.2 seconds with Leclerc third.

With 20 laps to go, Hamilton’s race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, for the final time, told his driver “Lewis, it’s hammer time”. Hamilton asked for the gap time and was told 14 seconds. “You can do it,” chimed in his team chief Wolff before he took Gasly for fifth.

At the front, Norris was the embodiment of cool, 5.9 clear of Sainz and managing his race with detached precision despite struggling in ‘dirty air’ as he lapped most of the field, including Piastri in the final laps, when Hamilton closed within a second of Russell before snatching fourth.

Lando Norris hailed “a perfect day” after securing pole ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri to move McLaren within reach of a first constructors’ title since 1998 at Sunday’s decisive season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In an eventful Saturday qualifying session where seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was unluckily eliminated in Q1 in his final weekend with Mercedes, Norris topped the times in one minute and 22.595 seconds to outpace Piastri by three-tenths of a second. Carlos Sainz, in his final weekend with Ferrari before leaving to join Williams, was third, 0.020 seconds behind Piastri as McLaren reeled off their third front row lockout of the season.

Ferrari need to overhaul a 21-point deficit to take the constructors’ title ahead of McLaren, but suffered a blow when Charles Leclerc was eliminated in Q2 and, with a 10-place grid penalty, he will start from the back of the grid on Sunday.

Nico Hulkenberg qualified fourth for Haas – before being hit with a three-place penalty – ahead of newly-crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, Pierre Gasly of Alpine and Mercedes’ George Russell.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was eighth for Aston Martin, 24 hours after describing his car as “the worst ever”, ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Sauber and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.

“A perfect day for us,” said Norris who secured his eighth pole of the season.

“Probably a little tougher than before as we’ve been strong all weekend. My lap was strong too so it was just what we wanted from today.”

Lance Stroll was first out for Q1 in his Aston Martin as the sun set over the Yas Marina Circuit in clear conditions and temperatures of 25 (air) and (30) track, near perfect for the unprecedented 24th and final qualifying of the year.

Hamilton ‘messed up’

After scrubbed laps for exceeding track limits by Perez and Franco Colapinto, Sainz went top as the Mexican’s lap was reinstated and Bottas took command shortly before Hamilton, on a desperate late lap, failed to make it.

He was eliminated in Q1 for the third time in his final six races before leaving Mercedes for Ferrari and in his 246th and final outing for the ‘Silver Arrows’.

“I messed that up big time guys,” a crestfallen Hamilton conceded on the team radio. “That was bad,” he added.

Hamilton’s demise came after he picked up a bollard – flicked into his path by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas – that was stuck under his car, creating imbalance and loss of pace.

After a record 104 pole positions, 78 with Mercedes, it was a sad qualifying finale for the seven-time champion before his move to Ferrari – and on a circuit where he has taken a record five poles.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff blamed “an idiot’s mistake” that led to Hamilton being sent out late to ensure he reached the second qualifying session when an errant bollard lodged under his car and wrecked his performance and lap.

As a result, he will start towards the rear of the grid for his final race with Mercedes before joining Ferrari next season.

“I just need to apologise to Lewis,” said Wolff.

“We totally let him down. An idiotic mistake not to go earlier. Inexcusable, inexcusable! I’ve rarely been so down about what has happened.

In another incident, Russell was seen to run off track to avoid baulking Liam Lawson on a flying lap.

After much swearing on the RB radio channel, the stewards investigated and took no further action, a baffling decision a week after a similar issue had initiated Russell’s promotion to pole in Qatar where Verstappen was penalised.

Verstappen set the Q2 pace with an early lap in 1:22.998 and chose to relax as his rivals took second runs – Leclerc going top before his lap was deleted for track limits at Turn One.

This meant he qualified 14th but his penalty means he will start Sunday’s race at the back of the grid – a massive setback for Ferrari in their bid to overhaul McLaren.

British driver Lando Norris led Australian team-mate Oscar Piastri in second practice on Friday as McLaren turned up the heat in their bid to secure the constructors’ title at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had topped the opening practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit ahead of Norris and Lewis Hamilton, but the Monegasque driver was then penalised for taking a new battery pack on his car. Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race compromises the Italian team’s bid to capture a first constructors’ title since 2008.

Ferrari are seeking to overturn a 21-point deficit on leaders McLaren, who last won the constructors’ title in 1998, this weekend.

Norris clocked one minute and 23.517 seconds to beat Piastri by two-tenths of a second, ahead of third-placed Nico Hulkenberg of Haas.

Carlos Sainz was fourth fastest in the second Ferrari followed by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, the British driver in his last race weekend with Mercedes.

Leclerc was sixth in the second Ferrari ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas, Williams’ Alex Albon and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.

The feuding George Russell of Mercedes and newly-crowned four-time world champion Max Verstappen struggled to find the pace and wound up 13th and 17th, respectively, in a largely uneventful twilight session.

It began in cooling conditions after a hot day as the sun set in Abu Dhabi, RB’s Liam Lawson setting the early pace in 1:25.537, before Leclerc took over and then Norris. Hamilton slotted into second to repeat the top three from opening practice.

– Verstappen baby news –

Verstappen, complaining about his front axle performance, had sat out the earlier run as news that he is to become a father for the first time with Kelly Piquet, daughter of Brazil’s triple world champion Nelson Piquet, was confirmed in a social media post.

Piquet has a daughter, born in 2019, with former Red Bull driver Russian Daniil Kvyat.

“The understeer is ridiculous,” reported the Dutchman on team radio, while Russell, with whom he has fallen out in spectacular, acrimonious fashion, said his “cockpit is still reasonably toasty”, referring to the temperature of 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 Fahrenheit).

Between the sessions, Red Bull’s chief Christian Horner had hit back at Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s description of him as a “yapping little terrier” for interfering in the Verstappen-Russell feud by describing the Mercedes driver as “hysterical”.

“I love terriers,” said Horner. “I think they’re great dogs. I’ve had four. I’d rather be a terrier than a wolf.”

Norris’ lap in 1:24.332 kept him on top ahead of Leclerc and Sainz with Perez fourth until Magnussen took second for Haas to revise the order, followed by Piastri as conditions changed in the twilight zone and soft tyre runs began.

With 27 minutes to go, Piastri took top spot briefly before Norris replied, the McLarens showing how keen they are to clinch the team’s first title since 1998 as Leclerc led Ferrari’s riposte, taking sixth, six-tenths off the pace.

“Half of the grid is sleeping,” complained Leclerc. “They’re in the way.”

Norris trimmed his lap to 1:23.517 with Piastri two-tenths behind ahead of Hulkenberg, Sainz and Hamilton with 11 minutes remaining. Russell was 13th and Verstappen 17th ahead of the final runs under the lights.