Abu Dhabi – Free Practice 2: Hamilton narrowly beats Rosberg, both Red Bulls behind Vettel

This second free practice session of the day at Yas Marina served as a full-scale training for the drivers for the upcoming events. The weather likely mirrored the conditions to be experienced during Qualifying and the Race. The sun was setting over Abu Dhabi as the pit lane light turned green at 2 PM French time; 5 PM local time. As a reminder, Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Ocon had reclaimed their seats respectively from Alfonso Celis Jr and Jordan King in FP1.

**Bis repetita entry for Daniil Kyvat**

The beginning of the session was obviously dedicated to the pursuit of pure performance. An opportunity for an initial assessment with the three tires proposed this weekend: the soft tire, the super-soft tire, and the ultra-soft tire.

Very temporarily, the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers were at the top of the timesheet. Sebastian Vettel clocked in at 1:41.404. The four-time world champion had anticipated by fitting the ultra-soft tires.

But we had to wait for the first lap times from the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers with the same tires in order to have a more precise understanding.

At the center of attention, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were still preparing their laps, testing the best possible settings. The triple world champion was not particularly happy with his start, reporting a small gearbox issue, fixed remotely by his engineers.

Meanwhile, Daniil Kvyat once again prematurely ended his session! Just like in FP1, the Russian suffered another high-speed puncture, again on the rear-left tire! In his high-speed spin, he could still be thankful for the layout of this modern track: the large asphalt run-off areas allowed him to limit the damage and bring his wounded Toro Rosso back to the pits. Along the way, the former Red Bull driver didn’t hesitate to show his displeasure, letting out a curse on the radio.

However, he wasn’t out of the woods yet: his car was immobilized for the rest of the session, with his mechanics busily working to fix this significant issue. As a precaution, Carlos Sainz’s car was also closely examined, also putting an end to his first stint.

Spin and a puncture for KVY early on in #FP2

He heads back to the garage for repairs#AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/KuLrUHdAYy

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre /f1/actualite/21561-abu-dhabi-essais-libres-1-hamilton-devant-un-rosberg-dans-lattente.html

Let’s also note that Jenson Button’s track appearance was delayed for this Friday session. However, the future retiree could still go out to chase the clock just before the 30th minute of the session.

That’s @JensonButton‘s car – or at least the skeleton of it

Work to do in the @McLarenF1 garage with #FP2 well under way#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/FvrcAz9nCJ

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25

The two Red Bulls pushed back by half a second in pure performance, but more economical in managing ultra-soft tires

After a brief lull, allowing the teams to return the allocated set of tires by Pirelli; the competing drivers took to the track again. This was an opportunity for the Mercedes to take the lead on the ultra-soft tire set. Lewis Hamilton managed to better the time just set by Rosberg a few seconds earlier. 1:40.861 for the Englishman, 1:40.940 for the German, a gap of 0.079s between the two men. A good surprise, Vettel was still ahead of the Red Bulls in third position, both of which were pushed back half a second from the lead.

These night sessions were the first real lessons of this weekend in Abu Dhabi. Here’s a first glance after 1 hour of the session.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (30 MINS TO GO): VERY close between the title rivals as the final #FP2 of /f1/actualite/21561-abu-dhabi-essais-libres-1-hamilton-devant-un-rosberg-dans-lattente.html enters its final phase #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/9iv0I8SRjj

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre /f1/actualite/21561-abu-dhabi-essais-libres-1-hamilton-devant-un-rosberg-dans-lattente.html

In the wake, the 22 actors proceeded to evaluate the endurance of the tires. The time came to witness a few errors, such as Nico Rosberg, who went slightly wide at the seventeenth corner, a right-angle turn, braking while leaning in.

For his part, Max Verstappen was worried about “destroying” his ultra-soft front-right tire after only about ten laps. That said, the degradation of these tires seems slightly more favorable for Red Bull than for Mercedes.

A session ending marked by Vettel’s Ferrari coming to a stop

Then 14th, Romain Grosjean did not have the leisure to test his car as thoroughly, forced to return to the pits prematurely due to a water pressure issue.

The laps went by and an additional driver disappeared from the track. Sebastian Vettel encountered a gearbox problem at the start of the last 10 minutes of the session. Stuck in neutral, the German was forced to park his Ferrari on the sidelines. A shame for the German who was having a great session until then.

VET 📻: “I think I have a gearbox failure”

Session over for the four-time world champion#FP2 #AbuDhabiGP #F1Finale 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/91tFGJ0Y33

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre /f1/actualite/21561-abu-dhabi-essais-libres-1-hamilton-devant-un-rosberg-dans-lattente.html

The very last minutes were in sight and Max Verstappen was prematurely returning to the pits. No problems here on board the Red Bull, but five fewer minutes on track for one of the luxury arbiters of the Mercedes driver’s title race. Strangely, there were actually many reports of power loss in this FP2. Sergio Pérez also lamented a loss of power on the straight.

The session was ending and the drivers still had the right to test themselves in preparation for the start.

In any case, the first day in Abu Dhabi ended with the best time from the challenger in the race for the driver’s title. Advantage to Lewis Hamilton then, but Nico Rosberg has closed the gap. The other news from this session at the top of the leaderboard is the strong competitiveness of the Ferrari drivers, neck and neck with the Red Bull team.

Here is the full ranking of this FP2:

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: HAM quickest again, but ROS is three-tenths closer to the only man who can deny him the title #AbuDhabiGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/JGJhsegOUC

— Formula 1 (@F1) 25 novembre /f1/actualite/21561-abu-dhabi-essais-libres-1-hamilton-devant-un-rosberg-dans-lattente.html

Thus, this second session leveled the playing field between the two contenders for the world crown. Even though Hamilton is slightly ahead, the gap in pure performance with Nico Rosberg is very small. Clearly, the pressure will rise another notch tomorrow for the start of the Qualifications. Barring any surprises, the two title candidates will compete for Pole Position.

On the other hand, it is also useful to note that the Mercedes were more in trouble with the management of the ultra-soft tires, especially compared to the Red Bull. An interesting element for Sunday’s race?

*In any case, we now invite you to join us tomorrow at noon for the summary of the third and final free practice session. And don’t miss, in the meantime, the initial reports and reactions from the main players of this final weekend in Abu Dhabi!*