Hamilton beats Vettel in Abu Dhabi FP2

Bethonie WaringBethonie Waring2 min read
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Hamilton beats Vettel in Abu Dhabi FP2

Lewis Hamilton beat Sebastian Vettel in the second free practice session ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After the Ferrari driver topped the times in FP1, Hamilton was 0.149s faster in the more representative second practice, setting a new track record in the process.

It was far from a clean session for Hamilton, who ran straight on at the chicane after locking up early in the session. He managed to recover to set a series of fast laps around the Yas Marina circuit, including his 1m37.877s track record lap, but suffered another significant lock up before the end of the qualifying simulations.

Stoffel Vandoorne, Brendon Hartley, and Romain Grosjean also span at various points in the session. All three avoided damage, though Stoffel Vandoorne had to park and restart his McLaren before returning to the pits.

Grosjean, who finished slowest, only completed 12 laps as an electrical problem limited his running.

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Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas.

Team-mate Max Verstappen could only manage sixth fastest. There appeared to be a problem with his Toro Rosso when he left the garage at the start of the session, a cloud of smoke following him down the pit lane.

The Force India duo finished best of the rest, with Sergio Perez finishing ahead of Esteban Ocon, who sat out of FP1.

Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.

Felipe Massa took 11th fastest, ahead of Vandoorne, Carlos Sainz, and Lance Stroll.

Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen took 15th and 16th, with Pascal Wehrlein beating Marcus Ericsson for the second time this weekend. Harley finished 19th overall.

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