Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton headed FP2 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP with teammate Valtteri Bottas third behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
It was steady FP2 in F1 Abu Dhabi GP but there were still minor offs and lap deletions for a lot of drivers as the fast flowing nature of the revised layout meant the drivers started to carry more speed in certain sections of the circuit.
Mercedes’ Hamilton set a 1m23.691s lap but had his moments much like his teammate Bottas in third with a 1m24.083s lap. The Finn, in fact, almost had a brush with the wall at Turn 14 while he also had another off-track moment in the hotel section.
Alpine’s Ocon slotted himself in second with a 1m24.034s lap which meant only Hamilton was the driver to dip into the 1m23s barrier. The Red Bull played the sedate game with Max Verstappen (1m24.332s) fourth from Sergio Perez (1m24.400s) in the Top 5.
With Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m24.495s) in sixth, it was three F1 outfits in the Top 6. The Spaniard carried the visor camera in FP2 after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did so in FP1. The Monegasque ended up eighth with a 1m24.557s lap.
He was behind AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m24.532s) in seventh with his teammate Pierre Gasly (1m24.940s) in 10th behind the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz (1m24.844s). The lead McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo was 11th from Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
The former’s teammate Lando Norris was 13th from the Aston Martin duo of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll as Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen was 16th as he had a big crash at Turn 14 after the end of the session with the red flag called in.
It wasn’t as a high speed crash for Raikkonen, but the Finn smashed onto the tyre barrier after losing his rear in the left-hander. He led the Williams and Haas duo with George Russell ahead of Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Latifi was another one to have an off and hitting the barrier but the Canadian managed to get back on track and run more, while Mazepin also had multiple offs using an ‘abandoned’ chassis after damage in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Lewis Hamilton goes fastest in FP2, and look at Esteban Ocon!#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Cz4FRE0X8Y
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2021
Kimi Raikkonen spins and hits the wall at Turn 14
Thankfully he is able to get out of his car#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/TNQr9M80xh
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2021
Here’s how FP1 of F1 Abu Dhabi GP panned out