Russell sets FP1 pace as 10 rookies fill in for Verstappen, Hamilton and co

Russell was faster than Aston Martin reserve Felipe Drugovich, who impressively got within 0.288 seconds of the Mercedes driver’s benchmark as he stood in for Fernando Alonso. 

• F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2023 - Friday Practice Results

Drugovich was one of 10 rookies taking part in FP1 at the Yas Marina Circuit to fulfil each team’s requirement to run a rookie in each of their cars during the season. 

AlphaTauri were the only team not to field a rookie as they have already completed the mandatory rookie requirement for 2023. 

Daniel Ricciardo was third-quickest in his upgraded AlphaTauri, while Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was fourth, ahead of Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin. 

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was sixth-fastest ahead of the Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and Robert Shwartzman, who was just 0.027s off the Spaniard in his latest FP1 outing. 

Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top-10 for Alpine and AlphaTauri respectively. 

F2 frontrunner Frederik Vesti, driving Hamilton’s Mercedes, was the next fastest rookie in 12th, behind Logan Sargeant’s Williams. 

Jack Doohan was 13th for Alpine, ahead of fellow rookie runners Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo), Pato O’Ward (McLaren), Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar (both Red Bull). 

Zak O’Sullivan was 18th fastest on his F1 practice debut for Williams, ahead of Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Ollie Bearman, who was slowest of all in his second FP1 appearance. 

The full-time drivers who sat out of the first session will be back in their cars for FP2, which takes place in far more representative conditions.