Abu Dhabi – Free Practice 1: Hamilton ahead of a waiting Rosberg
The first session of the weekend was held under a blazing sun. The conditions weren't the same as those we'll encounter in qualifying and the race, so it wasn't a time for fine-tuning. Rosberg set the fastest time at the start of the session, but Hamilton soon picked it up and kept it for the rest of the session. The Red Bulls were once again in the lead at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Start of the session was rather calm as usual on the Yas Marina track. The drivers took turns for their installation laps, and slowly the times were recorded. It is noteworthy that Jordan King took Esteban Ocon’s place in the Manor for the session this morning, while at Force India, it was Nico Hülkenberg who gave up his place to the young Alfonso Celis Jr.
No surprise here, Mercedes with Rosberg was in front with 1’43″243 while Hamilton was far behind at almost nine-tenths. The timing sheet gradually filled up, but the recorded times were not representative of the performance of the different cars.
Behind Mercedes, we could find the Ferraris of Räikkönen and Vettel two seconds back before the Red Bulls came in to take 3rd and 5th positions. Verstappen reduced the gap with Rosberg to 1.403 seconds.
The Williams and Haas completed the top 10 at the beginning of the session. Beyond the 10th place were Sainz, Celiz Jr, Ericsson, Nasr, Magnussen, Pérez, Palmer, Wherlein, King, and Kvyat. After a puncture, the Russian was forced to stop his car, instructed by his team, to avoid damaging the car with the tire that was rubbing against the side of his Toro Rosso.
In a first attempt, Jenson Button placed the McLaren in a modest 14th position, while Pérez managed to bring his car up to 6th place.
In a moment of effort, Hamilton regained the best time held by his teammate with pride. The Briton recorded a time of 1’43″051, 192 off Rosberg. At the start of the following lap, he lost his Mercedes in the chicane (turns 5 and 6).
HAM takes a spin at the Turn 5/6 complex
He’s leapfrogged his rival ROS though and is now P1#AbuDhabiGP #FP1 #F1Finale 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/KULVvU0cKZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre 2016
At Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel tested the Halo for a long time. The German kept the system on his car for the first forty minutes of the session. On the Austrian team’s side, Max Verstappen again narrowed the gap between his car and the Mercedes, he was then “539 off Hamilton’s time.
At mid-session, activity suddenly dropped on the Abu Dhabi marina. The entire peloton was in the pits.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (40 MINS TO GO): @nico_rosberg keeping @LewisHamilton in his sights at @ymcofficial #AbuDhabiGP #FP1 pic.twitter.com/FF9yT0TKwX
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre 2016
Only Alonso left this lane to take to the track and record an initial time to appear on the timing sheet. He completed a lap to position himself in 13th place before improving and moving up to 12th, twelve milliseconds ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Single-seater still questionable for Romain Grosjean, after several rear losses when entering left turns, the Frenchman lost his Haas under braking as had happened in previous Grand Prix. More fear than harm, he was able to rejoin the track without damage but expressed his concern over the radio about the repetitive rear-end slides of the Haas and the uncertain brakes.
Brief yellow flags as GRO goes for a spin at Turn 1 🔄 😖#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1Finale pic.twitter.com/lYT6flhWIh
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre 2016
During the last half-hour of the session, the track was improving as the temperatures dropped, and lap times improved. On soft tires, Hamilton set a new reference time of 1’42’869, while Verstappen also improved to remain four-tenths behind the Briton.
At the same time, Vettel was keeping up with the movement, but the Ferrari was still far behind, more than a second off Hamilton’s time, while Ricciardo was just a breath away from his Dutch teammate’s time.
Further down the rankings, Palmer jumped from 16th to 13th, taking this position from his teammate. Then it was Ericsson’s turn to follow suit, placing his Sauber in a fine 9th place, pushing Romain Grosjean out of the top 10 in the process. Sainz followed the trend, moving up to 8th position.
This early afternoon session (local time) went off without a hitch, though punctuated by a few yellow flags, with no harm to the drivers.
Hamilton finishes with the best time of the session in 1’42″869, ahead of Rosberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, and Vettel for the top 5. Following them are Pérez ahead of Räikkönen, Sainz, Massa, and Ericsson completing the top 10. In the middle of the pack, we find Celis Jr driving the Force India ahead of Grosjean and Nasr. Gutierrez, Bottas, Palmer, Magnussen, Alonso, Wehrlein, Button, King, and Kvyat occupy the lower part of the timing sheet.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: Daylight between HAM and the rest – but Red Bulls ominously close to ROS after opening session #AbuDhabiGP #FP1 pic.twitter.com/b94q6yj5AA
— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre 2016
Don’t miss this afternoon’s session, which should provide more details on the performances and hierarchy that will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
