Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas led teammate Lewis Hamilton in F1 Abu Dhabi GP FP2 from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as Fernando Alonso runs his R25 car.

The first part of the F1 Abu Dhabi GP FP2 at Yas Marina Circuit had drivers testing the 2021 C4 Pirelli tyres on a busy track, with all of them given just the one set, where they were asked to do a minimum of eight timed laps in all to gather the data.

Once that was away, the F1 drivers got going in the FP2 session of Abu Dhabi GP as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas ended up on top with a 1m36.276s as Lewis Hamilton (1m36.79s) and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (1m37.047s) rounded by Top 3.

The trio set their best on the medium tyres after their fast times on the soft compound was deleted due to Turn 21 track limits, which caught out many in the FP2 session as opposed to FP1. Another to be affected was Red Bull’s Alexander Albon (1m37.263s) in fourth.

The Thai lost all his quick laps on the medium tyres but his quick lap on the soft managed to stick. McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m37.438s) did well in fifth ahead of a tight pack of four drivers being led by Renault’s Esteban Ocon (1m37.505s).

It was 0.003s from Ocon until teammate Daniel Ricciardo (1m37.508s) in ninth, where Racing Point’s Sergio Perez (1m37.506s) was seventh and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m37.508s) eighth. The Mexican, though, had his best time on the medium compound.

For Perez, though, it won’t be easy in Abu Dhabi GP, having taken new ICE and TC, which will bring in grid penalty. His teammate Lance Stroll (1m37.560s) rounded out the Top 10, meanwhile, with AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat (1m37.596s) in 11th.

The long-run plan for most was hampered due to a lengthy red flag for Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, whose car was on fire after an engine trouble. He stopped on the middle of the track as marshals rushed in to douse it with the Finn also helping them.

The incident happened seconds after Williams’ George Russell had a power unit for himself. The Brit could bring the car in the pits but with red light flashing, the mechanics couldn’t touch it until it turned green, due to the risk of shock.

The session re-started with about five minutes remaining as Hamilton was stuck in front of Haas F1 garage. The Brit could re-start and move on eventually as replays showed Albon and Ocon getting racey on the support straight, in a silly move.

Albon tried to go on the left and take the inside line in the corner but Ocon started to move to left himself. Meanwhile, back on the standings, Kvyat (1m37.596s) in 11th was led by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (1m37.616s), with Pierre Gasly (1m37.900s) in 13th.

The Frenchman had a spin early on at Turn 1 as Raikkonen (1m38.068s) slotted in 14th from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (1m38.198s), with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m38.504s) in 16th ahead of the other Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi (1m38.564s).

Williams’ Russell (1m38.817s) could only manage 18th with Nicholas Latifi (1m39.132s) 20th behind Haas’ Pietro Fittipaldi (1m39.027s), who was back on his weekend programme after undertaking 2021 run in FP1. The Brazilian had some brake issues in FP2.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1337401525791039491?s=20

Meanwhile, between FP1 and FP2, Renault’s Fernando Alonso was out in his 2005 R25 at Yas Marina circuit for his first run of the Abu Dhabi GP weekend. The Spaniard is due to do the same on Saturday and Sunday as well.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1337372114458988549?s=20

Here’s how F1 Abu Dhabi GP FP1 went

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR