The final race weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season opened with a first practice session that looked more like a young-driver test than a regular Friday run. Nine rookies appeared on the timing screens, giving the hour a very different rhythm and offering teams a final chance to assess their junior talent before the winter break.

Patricio O’Ward filled in for Oscar Piastri at McLaren, Ferrari ran both Charles and Arthur Leclerc, and Red Bull placed Arvid Lindblad in the car ahead of his move to Racing Bulls next year. Ayumu Iwasa drove for Racing Bulls, Luke Browning took part with Williams, Ryo Hirakawa appeared for Haas, Paul Aron ran for Alpine, and Aston Martin completed the list with Jak Crawford and Cian Shields.

The session started with all twenty cars heading out within the opening minutes. Isack Hadjar was the first to take to the track, while George Russell waited slightly longer before leaving the pits. Teams used a range of tyre compounds for their initial runs: most drivers chose the hard tyres, some selected the mediums, and O’Ward began his session on the softs. Browning’s early running was interrupted when a radio issue forced him to return to the garage for repairs.

Mechanical problems appeared for others as well. Oliver Bearman reported a loss of power and attempted to bring his Haas back to the pits. Hirakawa mentioned bouncing through the middle part of the lap, and Lindblad struggled with low grip, describing the conditions as difficult. Arthur Leclerc also ran slightly wide at one point, showing that the track was not offering much early grip. Red Bull mechanics carried out several checks on Lindblad’s car as he waited in the garage.

As conditions gradually improved, the times began to fall. Max Verstappen briefly led before the Mercedes drivers moved towards the front. Lando Norris then set a competitive time on the medium tyres before switching to softs later in the session. His first flying lap on the softs included a small moment in the first sector, but his next attempt was cleaner. Bearman’s running ended early when Haas chose to stop the car due to a hydraulic issue.

In the final part of the session, Norris and Verstappen exchanged quick laps with only very small gaps between them. Verstappen reported that something on his car did not feel quite right, although the cause was unclear. Charles Leclerc also completed several quicker laps towards the end, while Browning continued his recovery after his earlier technical problems.

When the session ended, Lando Norris was the fastest driver with a time of 1:24.485. Max Verstappen finished second, 0.008 seconds behind, and Charles Leclerc was third, a further 0.008 seconds back. Kimi Antonelli completed the hour in fourth place ahead of Nico Hülkenberg in fifth and George Russell in sixth. Gabriel Bortoleto was seventh, Oliver Bearman eighth before his stoppage, Carlos Sainz ninth, and Franco Colapinto tenth.

Among the rookies, Ryo Hirakawa produced the strongest result, finishing ahead of Paul Aron and Ayumu Iwasa. Arvid Lindblad, Jak Crawford and Cian Shields ended their sessions towards the lower part of the order, while Luke Browning lost useful track time because of his radio problems.