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<strong>FP2:</strong> Bottas pips Verstappen by 0.044s

FP2: Bottas pips Verstappen by 0.044s

Published on 23 Nov 2018 15:30
1
By: Fergal Walsh

Valtteri Bottas has topped the second practice session from the Yas Marina Circuit, marginally beating Red Bull's Max Verstappen to the top spot. Verstappen, who ended the opening session on top, was beaten by less than half a tenth by the Finnish driver.

Red Bull kept up its strong pace from first practice, with Daniel Ricciardo concluding his day in third place. The Australian, who is competing in his last weekend for the energy drink squad, was third fastest and just under two-tenths down on pace-setter Bottas.

Lewis Hamilton followed the seven-time Grand Prix winner, with the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel trailing the newly crowned five-time world drivers champion.

Can Valtteri Bottas win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix? The Finn is currently 5/2 to take the victory!

Haas looked strong after the second session, with Romain Grosjean ending up in seventh. The American squad is chasing Renault for fourth in the constructor's championship, however face the tall order of clawing back 22 points in one race.

The second Haas car of Kevin Magnussen was two places down on Grosjean, with Nico Hulkenberg splitting the pair in eighth place. After Toto Wolff confirmed over lunch that he would be Mercedes' 2019 reserve driver, Esteban Ocon ended the session rounding out the top ten.

After dazzling last timeout in Brazil, Sauber struggled throughout the day. After Marcus Ericsson made contact with the barriers in FP1, the Hinwil squad could only manage P15 with Charles Leclerc and P17 with Ericsson at the end of Friday.

The usual suspects rounded out the timesheets, with the two Williams' and Stoffel Vandoorne filling out the final three spots. Fernando Alonso, in his final FP2 session, got P13, behind Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and compatriot Carlos Sainz.

F1Grand Prix United Arab Emirates - Free practice 2

Yas Marina Circuit - 23 November 2018

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

1:37.236

37
2

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:37.280

+0.044

32
3

Daniel Ricciardo

Red Bull Racing

1:37.428

+0.192

31
4

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:37.443

+0.207

35
5

Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari

1:37.461

+0.225

40
6

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:37.569

+0.333

39
7

Romain Grosjean

Haas F1

1:38.060

+0.824

30
8

Nico Hülkenberg

Renault

1:38.230

+0.994

36
9

Kevin Magnussen

Haas F1

1:38.318

+1.082

30
10

Esteban Ocon

Racing Point

1:38.402

+1.166

33
11

Pierre Gasly

Toro Rosso

1:38.506

+1.270

32
12

Carlos Sainz jr

Renault

1:38.511

+1.275

37
13

Fernando Alonso

McLaren

1:38.725

+1.489

35
14

Sergio Perez

Racing Point

1:38.806

+1.570

31
15

Charles Leclerc

Sauber

1:38.831

+1.595

33
16

Brendon Hartley

Toro Rosso

1:38.957

+1.721

35
17

Marcus Ericsson

Sauber

1:39.502

+2.266

36
18

Stoffel Vandoorne

McLaren

1:39.938

+2.702

18
19

Lance Stroll

Williams

1:40.046

+2.810

33
20

Sergey Sirotkin

Williams

1:40.935

+3.699

39

F1 News Max Verstappen Fernando Alonso Valtteri Bottas Romain Grosjean Daniel Ricciardo Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Marcus Ericsson Kevin Magnussen Susie Wolff Stoffel Vandoorne Pierre Gasly Esteban Ocon Charles Leclerc Toto Wolff Gene Haas Sauber Mercedes Williams Renault Ferrari

Replies (1)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Im kinda surprised by how strong RB already look. I wont lie in that Im not really looking forward to this race, IMO I find Abu Dhabi to be a pretty boring GP, but I hope Abu Dhabi will surprise me as much as the likes of Bahrain did.
- + 0
- Nov 23 2018 - 18:22