Valtteri Bottas led Free Practice 2 for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by 0.203 seconds from his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took P3, seven tenths adrift, though that picture might not be as clear as it seems. after the problems of the three drivers during the session.
The fastest times for Bottas, Hamilton and Verstappen in FP2 were set on the medium tires, rather than the soft, and Hamilton and Verstappen had times eliminated for track limit violations, while a Bottas error on his lap of Gentle push meant that after the session ended, the Finn’s 1m 36.276s lap remained the fastest under the spotlight at Yas Marina.
FP1 recap: 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Hamilton eliminated a fastest lap of 1m 36.097s, leaving the five-time Abu Dhabi winner 0.203s of Bottas’ time from his fastest lap on medium tires, while Verstappen lost 1m 37.029s, with Red Bull apparently one step behind. of Mercedes in pure rhythm. , as the Dutchman finished 0.770 seconds adrift, having led FP1.
However, there were concerns for Hamilton late in the session, as the seven-time champion paused in the pit lane five minutes from the end, complaining of no gears, before apparently finding one and setting off again.
|
1 Valtteri Bottas BOT Mercedes |
1: 36,276 |
|
2 Luis Hamilton HAM Mercedes |
+ 0.203 s |
|
3 Max Verstappen SEE Red bull racing |
+ 0.770 s |
|
4 Alexander Albon SUNRISE Red bull racing |
+ 0.987 s |
|
5 Landau Norris NEITHER Mclaren |
+ 1,162 s |
After his spin in FP1 this morning, Alex Albon moved into P4 behind his teammate Verstappen, two tenths behind the Dutchman. Behind the Thai driver, however, a fierce battle raged in midfield, with just 0.122 seconds separating McLaren driver Lando Norris’s time for P5 from Racing Point’s P10 effort, Lance Stroll.
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Renault’s Esteban Ocon, fresh off his first podium last week, was closest to Norris in P6, while Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez was an impressive P7, despite setting his best time on the middle tire; however, the pace of Sakhir’s GP winner Pérez is slightly academic. with the Mexican and Kevin Magnussen from Haas starting from the back of the grid after receiving engine penalties.
Meanwhile, there could be penalties for Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Williams repatriated George Russell, with both drivers’ cars spitting flames after misfires: Raikkonen was forced to stop on the track with fire licking his C39 and pulling out a flag 10 minute red. , with the Finn having set the 14th fastest time, while Russell was 18th fastest: Raikkonen’s red flag hampers the teams’ long-term plans.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020 FP2: Gasly turns into Turn 1
Behind Pérez, Charles Leclerc was eighth fastest for Ferrari, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, back on track after his fuel pressure problem in FP1, and Stroll. Both AlphaTauris reached the top 10 in FP1 but failed to repeat in the colder FP2 conditions, Daniil Kvyat was 11th to 13th behind Gasly – the Frenchman made a mistake on his first push lap on softs and turned around the corner 1 – with the AlphaTauri pair sandwiching Carlos Sainz’s second McLaren.
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Behind Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel found himself almost 2 seconds from top pace on his final weekend as a Ferrari driver, finishing 15th ahead of Magnussen. Rounding out the top 20 came Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo in 17th place, Russell in 18th, while Haas’s Pietro Fittipaldi was 19th, ahead of Nicholas Latifi’s second Williams.
So that was the situation on Friday night. But with a significant loss of time after the Raikkonen red flag, several important laps eliminated, and with teams giving up eight timed laps to test the 2021 C4 Pirelli compound during the session, the outlook is far from clear before that. qualifying on Saturday in Abu. Dhabi.