Lewis Hamilton struggled in FP3 as McLaren surged into the top three ahead of qualifying.
Hamilton's team-mate George Russell went fastest in a relatively uneventful session, as their championship battle with Ferrari intensified with Carlos Sainz in last place on Saturday morning.
McLaren showed great promise as they head into the more competitive aspect of the race weekend with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in FP3's top three.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen could only go sixth fastest in P3, while Williams duo Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant impressed with P4 and P8.
FP2 was red-flagged twice after Sainz lost control of his car at turn three, resulting in a spin and a collision with the barriers - before Hulkenberg span out at the exit of turn one minutes after FP2 had resumed.
Those red flags left a frantic 16-minute session which saw Ferrari's Charles Leclerc go quickest, followed by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in second and third. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu capped off a surprisingly magnificent session for Alfa Romeo, finishing the session fourth and seventh respectively.
Mercedes' Hamilton and Russell didn't show any great promise as they finished eighth and sixth respectively - though the session's interruptions won't have helped.
No less than 10 rookies took to the Yas Marina Circuit in FP1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Felipe Drugovich produced a stunning lap having replaced Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, finishing the session second quickest overall. The sport mandates that each team must run a driver who has participated in two or fewer races on two occasions during the season.
Here are the timesheets from all the practice action in Abu Dhabi.
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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP3 results - Saturday November 25th
1. George Russell (Mercedes): 1:24.418
2. Lando Norris (McLaren): +0.095
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.392
4. Alex Albon (Williams): +0.511
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.681
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.735
7. Esteban Ocon (Alpine): +0.776
8. Logan Sargeant (Williams): +0.787
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +0.804
10. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo): +0.840
11. Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +0.841
12. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): +0.874
13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +0.885
14. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +0.925
15. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +0.987
16. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo): +1.002
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas): +1.166
18. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri): +1.179
19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas): +1.234
20. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +1.295
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP2 results - Friday November 24th
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): 1:24.809
2. Lando Norris (McLaren): +0.043
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.173
4. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo): +0.215
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +0.303
6. George Russell (Mercedes): +0.313
7. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo): +0.414
8. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): +0.506
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +0.512
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.552
11. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +0.588
12. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri): +0.658
13. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +0.683
14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine): +0.757
15. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +0.860
16. Alex Albon (Williams): +1.272
17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas): +1.604
18. Logan Sargeant (Williams): +1.850
19. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +1.898
20. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas): +2.338
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP1 results - Friday November 24th
1. George Russell (Mercedes): 1:26.072
2. Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin): +0.288
3. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri): +0.361
4. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo): +0.381
5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +0.559
6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.593
7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +0.604
8. Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari): +0.631
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +0.648
10. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +0.653
11. Logan Sargeant (Williams): +0.670
12. Frederik Vesti (Mercedes): +0.743
13. Jack Doohan (Alpine): +0.793
14. Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo): +1.021
15. Pato O'Ward (McLaren): +1.042
16. Jake Dennis (Red Bull): +1.136
17. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull): +1.172
18. Zak O'Sullivan (Williams): +1.388
19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas): +1.390
20. Oliver Bearman (Haas): +1.497
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