Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying betting tips and F1 predictions: Norris to shine in shootout

Where to watch the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Practice three & qualifying
Sky Sports F1, 10.30am & 2pm Saturday

Race
Sky Sports F1, 1pm Sunday

Best bet

Lando Norris fastest qualifier
1pt 5-4 general

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Grand Prix qualifying predictions

The final Friday practices of 2024 could hardly have gone any better for McLaren, who will now be highly confident of ending their 26-year wait for a constructors' championship in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lando Norris set the fastest time of the day with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri second.

The Woking-based squad lead Ferrari by 21 points in the team standings with 44 still available. Charles Leclerc had been fastest for Ferrari in the morning session, but the team have had to change his battery pack, so the Monegasque has picked up a costly ten-place grid penalty for the race.

Norris has been on pole position for seven of the last 11 grands prix, and also started from the front in the sprint in Qatar last week. While his price is hardly exciting, it can still be considered value.

Lewis Hamilton has been down in the dumps recently but the seven-time world champion, who makes his final appearance for Mercedes this weekend, comfortably outpaced his teammate George Russell on Friday. 

Hamilton ended the day fifth, albeit six-tenths of a second off Norris's best, but when the focus switched to race simulations the Mercedes man set the pace.

World champion Max Verstappen ended the day 17th, having sat out the first session so that Red Bull rookie Isack Hadjar could gain some experience. Verstappen showed last week that he can never be written off, though, gaining his ninth win of the season having looked uncompetitive in the early part of the weekend.

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