2
Valtteri Bottas has topped the final session of Friday practice in Abu Dhabi, posting a lap time that was three-tenths of a second faster than Lewis Hamilton.
However, his session was tainted after he made contact with the Haas car of Romain Grosjean in the final 20 minutes.
Bottas moved his car to the inside from far back, attempting to get past Grosjean. However the Frenchman turned to take the apex, resulting in contact and damage to both cars.
Video: Watch Bottas and Grosjean collide during FP2!
Bottas will start this weekend's race from the back of the grid after he had a number of power unit components replaced ahead of the event.
The Finn also ended the opening session in the Abu Dhabi afternoon at the head of the timesheets.
FP1: Bottas 0.5s ahead, Vettel hits the wall
While Hamilton was second, Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari. However, he had a scare midway through the session, when he hit the wall at Turn 19, the same corner where Vettel spun during FP1.
Leclerc was able to return to the pit lane and get away without sustaining any major damage.
The Monegasque driver was not the only driver who had trouble at the corner, as Antonio Giovinazzi also found himself facing the wrong way at Turn 19 - just managing to avoid the barriers.
Vettel was fourth in the second Ferrari ahead of the Red Bull duo, with Max Verstappen posting a lap time that was half a second faster than Alexander Albon's.
Despite his contact with Bottas, Grosjean was seventh, ahead of Sergio Perez. Daniil Kvyat was ninth, only marginally slower than Perez's time.
Fresh from his maiden F1 podium finish in Brazil, Pierre Gasly found himself in tenth place at the end of the session, edging out both of the McLarens.
Renault also failed to get one of its cars inside the top ten. Daniel Ricciardo has been fitted with a new engine for the rest of the weekend following his issues in FP1.
Yas Marina Circuit - 29 November 2019
Grand Prix of Belgium
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Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
That was a really weird incident.
abhidbgt
Posts: 283
Sector 2 is more or less 2 long straights but the fastest time in that sector was by Mercedes untill Charles got a good slipstream behind one of the Renaults, I think. I was quite sure that they would be fastest in that sector and slowest in sector 3. While the latter was true but the former wasn't, found it strange.