George Russell has got his championship-deciding weekend under way in fine style by topping this afternoon’s FIA Formula 2 Championship free practice with a lap of 1:51.720, grabbing P1 by over a tenth from Antonio Fuoco and Luca Ghiotto, while title rival Alexander Albon kept his powder dry by coming home in P9, almost a second behind the 2019 Williams F1 driver.

The session got underway with the expected blue skies and soaring temperatures, with Lando Norris and Fuoco the first drivers to set representative times to top the timesheets.

The Italian held P1 for the first quarter hour before being usurped by Russell, who looked unruffled as he grabbed the top spot while further back Albon had a slightly wayward moment at the marina complex and decided that discretion was the better part of valour, returning to the pitlane soon afterwards.

And with that, the grid concentrated on their long run pace ahead of the penultimate race tomorrow, with little to concern the timekeepers: Roberto Merhi had a small moment over the kerbs while Artem Markelov explored the limits of tyre adhesion all around the circuit in an otherwise quiet session.

Nirei Fukuzumi was best of the rest behind the top 3 but ahead of Nyck De Vries, Merhi, Louis Deletraz, Norris, Albon and Markelov as they returned to the paddock to scour the data in an effort to go faster still in this evening’s qualifying session.

source: fiaformula2.com

Four-time Formula 1 champion Alain Prost believes a switch to Formula 2 would show if Mick Schumacher does have the potential to make it big in F1.

The son of German legend Michael made his first big statement this year, winning five straight races at one point to claim the European F3 championship, just like his father did in 1990.

While some have pondered if Schumacher could make the jump straight to F1, a year at least in the series just below is considered the most likely and Prost agrees it is the right approach.

“I don’t know what it means for the future, but Mick surprised me this year,” the Frenchman was quoted by PlanetF1.

“The final part of the season was incredibly impressive and he was driving under a lot of pressure, the name alone is a lot of pressure but the boy is really on it.

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“It will be more interesting to see him in F2,” he added. “In F2 we will see how good he is. He has a good chance there and it would be incredibly fun to see him in F1, as a driver but above all on the human side.

“Given the situation his father is in, Mick must be incredibly strong to do the same job.”

Elsewhere, fans will get the chance to see Schumacher team up with Sebastian Vettel in January's Race of Champions event to be held in Mexico, just as Michael did winning the event for Team Germany for six straight years between 2007-2012.

“I’m honoured to enter this competition which my father always loved and in which he set the bar very high together with Sebastian,” said the 19-year-old.

“There are so many renowned drivers in action and I’m looking forward to competing against them and getting to know them better; I’m looking forward to the fun we’ll all have together and which we’ll offer for the spectators in Mexico.

“But of course I’ll do everything to get far in the individual event and to win the RoC Nations Cup trophy with Sebastian for Team Germany.”

Toro Rosso target Alexander Albon claims his only focus will be on his Formula 2 battle with George Russell this weekend in Abu Dhabi.

The British-Thai driver has been linked to the junior Red Bull team for 2019 but the situation is complicated as he had already signed a two-year deal to race with Nissan in Formula E from Season 5.

In the midst of all that, Albon still has an outside chance of beating George Russell to the F2 crown sitting 37 points behind with 48 available at Yas Marina.

“I’m focusing on the job in F2 this weekend,” he told Autosport. “We do our job, we do the best we can do.

“I won’t let anything distract me from that, I don’t pay too much attention to what’s happening outside of my job, I think we can be quick in Abu Dhabi with our package. We’ll keep our heads down and see how we do.

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“George is quite far away so it will be difficult. But as you’ve seen this year, one DNF in race one and its game on.

“If we do the best job we can, that puts the pressure on George then."

Russell and Lando Norris are two of the current F2 roster also secured of an F1 promotion in 2019, heading to Williams and McLaren respectively.