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Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP

F1 Abu Dhabi GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

The final Friday sessions of 2022 with Formula 1 free practice from the Yas Marina Circuit

The Aston Martin Vantage safety car

F1’s season finale is here, as the paddock descends on the Yas Marina circuit for the Abu Dhabi GP.

Fresh from a dramatic Brazilian GP, where George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 in the team’s first win of the season and his maiden F1 victory, all eyes will again be on Red Bull following the team orders row that erupted at Interlagos.

Friday’s action sees the standard pair of practice sessions, with a number of rookie drivers on show in FP1.

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"Thank you everybody I really enjoyed that," O'Ward tells his McLaren mechanics as he's pushed back into the box. That's a sentiment echoed by Shwartzman at Ferrari, who even adds a bit of Italian into the mix.
Sargeant is 15th fastest after his spin, ahead of Haas drivers Magnussen and Fittipaldi. Stand-ins O'Ward, after his McLaren's early mechanical glitch, Doohan (Alpine) and Drugovich (Aston Martin) complete the order.
Vettel is sixth, beating the second Ferrari of 2021 F2 runner-up Shwartzman who stands in for Sainz. Ricciardo is eighth ahead of Albon and Bottas, Gasly, Ocon, Tsunoda and Kubica.
It's a Mercedes 1-2 then to start the Abu Dhabi weekend, just as things ended in Brazil last time out. Hamilton heads Russell at the front, with Leclerc beating Red Bull pair Perez and stand-in Lawson - a super job from the Kiwi on his third FP1 outing of the season and first at Red Bull.
Yikes, nearly a misunderstanding there between Drugovich and one of the McLarens at the final corner. The F2 champion spots the orange car looming in his mirrors and leaps off the track, but the McLaren locks up and nearly follows him off.
Checkered flag
The checkered flag is out, and it's Lewis Hamilton who takes the fastest time in FP1.
Of the other stand-ins Fittipaldi too, it must be said, is close to his team-mate with Magnussen just under a tenth ahead in the intra-Haas battle.
Perhaps the driver who will be most pleased with today's work though is Lawson, who is just over two tenths down on Perez.
It's been a quietly effective session then for Mercedes, with Russell in second having completed the most laps of anybody so far (26).
A 1m27.429s lifts Shwartzman back to seventh ahead of Ricciardo, albeit over half a second down on Leclerc in third.
Tsunoda slowing on the back straight leads Fittipaldi to pass him on the inside - but the second AlphaTauri of Gasly was right up behind the Haas and is taken by surprise by the move, abruptly lifting off.
Ricciardo had been bringing up the rear on hards but goes seventh-fastest with his first effort on softs with a 1m27.619s to slot in ahead of Shwartzman's Ferrari.
O'Ward is pushing hard into the slightly banked Turn 9 and clearly feels at home there, putting his oval skills to good use by catching a snap of oversteer. He's currently P17, three places ahead of Ricciardo.
Shwartzman briefly himself into the top six, the Ferrari man posting a 1m27.626s. But he is immediately shuffled back by Vettel, who manages a 1m27.268s in his Aston Martin.
Lawson now gets to have a run on the softs and punches in the fifth fastest time, a 1m27.201s to go just three tenths slower than Perez. Good effort from the Kiwi.
Russell claimed a new purple sector one on his last lap but the following two weren't as quick as Hamilton, so the Brazil winner ends up second on a 1m26.853s. As they were last week, the two Mercedes are currently 1-2.
Quote
"I am screwing up in a lot of places," admits Kubica when asked if he would like one more lap to gain some more knowledge of the tyres. A healthy bit of honesty never goes amiss.
On the soft tyre, Hamilton punches in a new purple sector one on his way to the fastest lap of all - it's a 1m26.633s for the Mercedes man.
Turn 1 has been causing a few drivers issues today. Magnussen is the latest to lock up, after Drugovich snagged a brake there earlier on.
Leclerc had a big snap of oversteer exiting Turn 1 a few minutes ago, but now returns himself to the top spot on a 1m26.888s.
Kubica now surges up to seventh in the second Alfa Romeo on a 1m28.064s.
With 20 minutes to go, we've got six different teams in the first six positions. Red Bull leads Alfa Romeo, Williams, Alpine, Ferrari and AlphaTauri.
Perez now pops in the first sub-1m27s lap of the session as he posts a 1m26.967s for Red Bull.
Bottas clearly wasn't a fan of that scenario, so goes quickest by 0.185s with a new benchmark of 1m27.655s using soft tyres on his Alfa Romeo.
We now have four drivers split by just 0.077s at the top. Albon, Perez, Ocon and Leclerc are covered by a proverbial whisker.
Having not had a Brazilian driver in F1 for a while, it makes a nice change to see Drugovich and Fittipaldi on track together. We believe the last time there were two Brazilian drivers in an official session was back in 2016 when Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr were both on the grid.
Albon now goes fastest for Williams on a 1m27.840s. The track is gradually cooling, temperatures down by two degrees since the session start, which can only help matters.
Off track
Whoops. Big moment for Sargeant down at Turn 1, who loses the back end approaching the corner and spins through 360-degrees across the run-off. But he manages to stop the car before hitting the wall and reverses out to get back to the pits for some new rubber.
Fittipaldi now whisks his Haas into P4 on the softs, a 1m28.204s for the Brazilian who raced the 2020 Abu Dhabi GP as a stand-in for Romain Grosjean.
With a fresh set of softs bolted to his Williams, Sargeant launches up to third on a 1m28.098s.
After his pitlane faux pas, Lawson heads out again with another set of hard tyres.
Shwartzman has posted his best effort so far in the Ferrari, a 1m29.244s to go 11th-quickest, just ahead of Doohan for the time being.
His McLaren repaired, O'Ward has made it back out on track again and sets a first flying lap of 1m30.392s on the medium tyres.
That said, Lawson has just made a right hash of coming into his pit box. He too late spots the Red Bull mechanics and locks up, requiring a push. "Sorry, I'm used to driving further down [the pit lane to AlphaTauri]," he remarks.
Russell posts a quick lap on hards to move up to seventh, but it's not enough to dislodge Lawson as the best of the hard-shod runners - Verstappen's stand-in is currently doing a very creditable job in third.
Only the five laps completed so far for Shwartzman, but he heads out now on a set of softs to see what he can do in Sainz's Ferrari.
As Lawson improves to third, with Tsunoda going fourth, Perez takes back the top spot in his ongoing ding-dong with Leclerc on a 1m27.853s. A good minute or so that for Red Bull-affiliated drivers.
Doohan has bolted on a set of softs and goes ninth in the Alpine, half a second down on team-mate Ocon.

By: autosport.com

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