Mercedes ended FP2 on top with Valtteri Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton in F1 Abu Dhabi GP while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third quickest.
As the sun set in F1 Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina circuit, it was Mercedes 1-2 with Bottas (1m36.256s) again on top ahead of Hamilton (1m36.566s), while Ferrari drivers Leclerc (1m36.642s) and Sebastian Vettel (1m36.691s) were third and fourth.
It was a clean session for Bottas though as he had off early on while then he had a collision with Haas’ Romain Grosjean at the left-hander on the support paddock’s main straight. Grosjean moved to his right as Bottas dived in to sneak past the Frenchman.
But Grosjean turned in taking the normal line as Bottas then rammed into the Haas car for the session to be red-flagged. The incident was put under investigation as the Frenchman’s day ended early while the Finn managed to return to the track.
It wasn’t clean for Leclerc as well with the Monegasque brushing the wall in the final sector. Having done well in FP1, the Red Bull Racing duo ended up fifth and sixth with Max Verstappen (1m36.807s) leading teammate Alexander Albon (1m37.288s).
Haas’ Grosjean (1m37.601s) was best of the rest in seventh with Racing Point’s Sergio Perez (1m37.637s) eighth as Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat (1m37.651s) and Pierre Gasly (1m37.770s) rounded out the Top 10 in FP2 of Abu Dhabi GP.
Missing out on a Top 10 slot were the McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz (1m37.834s) and Lando Norris (1m37.918s) in 11th and 12th with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m37.985s) was 13th. The British driver had an off early in the session.
The Haas of Kevin Magnussen (1m38.080s) was 14th with the two Renault drivers Nico Hulkenberg (1m38.122s) and Daniel Ricciardo (1m38.400s) in 15th and 16th ahead of the Alfa Romeo Racing duo Kimi Raikkonen (1m38.415s) and Antonio Giovinazzi (1m38.464s).
Like Vettel in FP1 and Leclerc in FP2, Giovinazzi nearly binned it in the same corner but managed to not hit the barrier despite the spin. The rear of the grid had Williams’ George Russell (1m39.512s) and Robert Kubica (1m40.455s) in 19th and 20th.
Here’s how F1 Abu Dhabi GP FP1 panned out