P1racenews AI automatic summary:
George Russell set the pace in opening practice at the F1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as 10 rookies filled in for full-time drivers including Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Russell was the fastest driver, with Drugovich impressively close behind him in the Aston Martin. This session saw 10 rookies participating, as per the requirement for all teams to run a rookie in each car. AlphaTauri was the only team that didn’t have a rookie, as they had already fulfilled the mandate. Ricciardo was the third-fastest in his upgraded AlphaTauri, followed by Bottas and Stroll. Piastri, Sainz, and Shwartzman were also among the top ten. Vesti, driving Hamilton’s Mercedes, was the fastest rookie in 12th place. The full-time drivers will be back for FP2, which will have more representative conditions.
