Abu Dhabi GP – Free Practice 2: Hamilton Leads, Vettel and Alonso Crash Out

The day is waning in Abu Dhabi as the first single-seaters head out of the famous pit exit at the Yas Marina circuit. Leading this pack is a Lotus Renault, driven by Bruno Senna, who reclaimed his seat after having lent it this morning to the British team’s third driver, Romain Grosjean.

The Brazilian sets the initial time of this session at 1:47.727, quickly surpassed by Di Resta at 1:42.550. Webber improves by half a second. The Ferraris, for their part, seem very stiff and easily lift off on the curbs, while conversely, their very flexible front wing touches the ground on the straight. Vettel takes the lead at 1:41.392, but his Australian teammate does better by six tenths. The sun is setting low, which doesn’t necessarily make things easy for the drivers. Vettel sets the provisional fastest time after ten minutes in this session, with Mark Webber attacking and getting very close to the rails, just 84 thousandths behind the double World Champion. Behind them, Hamilton is half a second away, followed by Sutil, Schumacher, Button, and Alonso. Vettel continues to improve and records a time of 1:40.197, thus beating the fastest time in Free Practice 1 set by Jenson Button.

A number of drivers, as usual on Friday afternoon, started long stint simulations, like Nico Rosberg loaded with fuel and not using his DRS. Except for Fernando Alonso, the 13 drivers at the front in this session are in the pits as nearly twenty minutes have passed. The Asturian Bull takes the lead, with a time of 1:40.141. Kobayashi just sneaks into the top 10, 2.5 seconds behind the Ferrari driver.

On Felipe Massa’s side, it’s the rear wing that’s changed: the Scuderia is clearly taking advantage of these free sessions to test equipment for next season. This explains the sometimes strange behavior of the red car. The mechanics are now busy with the front wing this time. While Rosberg is in race simulation, Michael Schumacher is currently in performance testing, with the DRS wide open. He also makes a small mistake. The German is currently sixth, behind Sutil and Hamilton but ahead of Button. He consolidates his position after making a small error that caused him to lose a component of his Mercedes. He nevertheless takes pleasure in cutting through the large runoff area at the end of the long straight of the circuit.

Vettel goes back to the front on this November 11 but fails to retake the lead from Alonso. The sun has almost disappeared behind the buildings of Abu Dhabi. Massa makes sparks, but in the literal sense as his front wing problem persists. Webber is a victim of a spin that leads to a yellow flag. Fernando Alonso continues to improve and records a 1:39.971 while there are just over 50 minutes left in these FP2. At the back, Glock is ahead of Ricciardo, D’Ambrosio, Kovalainen, Trulli, and Liuzzi. Team Lotus seems to be focusing on a race simulation for now. On his side, Liuzzi, in discussion with his engineers, is not convinced by the performance of his HRT.

In the distance, the outlines and lights of the city are visible, and night has almost fallen on Abu Dhabi, with not much happening on the track. The track has lost nearly ten degrees since the first session. Schumacher continues to explore Yas Marina’s run-off areas, while Petrov has a scare at the braking point but avoids spinning. Button is on the attack and improves Alonso’s time by 1 thousandth, but Lewis Hamilton records a 1:39.586. The McLarens are awakening. “You are faster in sectors 2 and 3,” the 2008 World Champion is informed.

And at the end of the pit straight, it’s Sebastian Vettel who makes a mistake and crashes sideways at moderate speed into the protective barrier. The impact isn’t huge, and the driver is unharmed. It remains to be seen if the damage to the RB7 is significant. The yellow flag is obviously out with less than 35 minutes remaining before the end of FP2. Vettel positioned himself behind the safety fences at the site of his exit and calmly chats with some track marshals while keeping an eye on his competitors. With the car cleared, the yellow flag is lowered. With less than half an hour remaining, the session is still led by the two McLarens ahead of Alonso and the two Red Bulls, followed by Massa, Schumacher, Sutil, and Di Resta. The Force India cars seem comfortable on the Emirati track.

At ease, Fernando Alonso seems to be as well, but he too falls victim to an off-track excursion at the same spot as Vettel. Yellow flag, the Spaniard quickly exits his cockpit, but the Ferrari seems more damaged than the Red Bull as it hit the barriers with more force and from the rear. There are still 20 minutes left, and Lewis Hamilton’s leadership should not be contested as both McLarens are on a race simulation and his two most serious rivals are out. Massa has closed in to nine-thousandths of Alonso, thus placing both Ferraris ahead of the Red Bulls.

With ten minutes left in the session, Vettel got back into the Red Bull which, after checks and repairs, will be able to return to the track for a mini-race simulation. All the drivers are indeed on the Yas Marina circuit. No notable improvements as the checkered flag is presented to the drivers. It is therefore Lewis Hamilton who records the fastest time of the session, ahead of Button and Alonso. The Spanish driver, who went off the track, was unable to finish this session. For Vettel, who also had an accident, the session resumed for the last ten minutes.

The Classification of Free Practice 2 of the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: