F1 Abu Dhabi GP Live Updates - Friday practice
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By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Summary
Status: Stopped
With the final Friday of F1 action done, tomorrow FP3 gets underway at 10am GMT (2pm local time) with qualifying starting at 1pm GMT (5pm local time). We'll say goodbye for now to go and find out how the F1 drivers digested today's practice.
Practice starts are the final orders of FP2, taking place on the starting grid due to the twisty underground pit exit which is not a suitable place to launch an F1 car from on a standing start.
So, Bottas tops FP2 from Mercedes team-mate Hamilton in a truncated session given the 2021 tyre testing at the start and red flag at the end.
Hamilton completes another steering wheel switch, just as he did at the start of the session, as the chequered flag comes out to signal the end of FP2.
Odd few minutes all around, as Ocon and Albon come too close for comfort during their out-laps on the back straight, with the Red Bull trying to overtake the Renault. That could have been an awkward one.
A strange moment on the way out of the pits for Hamilton, who reports he can't find any gears and stops outside of the Haas garage. A quick restart under the watchful eyes of the Mercedes mechanics and he gets going again.
Green flag conditions once more, with a warning of a slippery track surface where Raikkonen stopped.
FP2 will restart at 6:24pm local time - so in under 60 seconds - meaning there will be six more minutes of track running.
With the fire out, Raikkonen hitches a lift to the paddock on the back of a golf buggy. That's his session done and a long night ahead for the Alfa Romeo mechanics.
The Finn quickly pulls over and hops out of his car with the entire rear end on fire when he stops. Raikkonen makes sure the marshals get the fire extinguishers pointing in the right area, but already that is one wrecked F1 car.
Oh, Raikkonen has a much bigger problem with his Alfa Romeo which is on fire as he exits Turn 7. That has caused a red flag.
Russell is told to back off and pit as he has a smoking Williams car. That could be the end of his current engine's life.
It is long run o'clock, with the drivers on an array of softs, mediums and hards - plus the Mercedes pair still on those 2021 tyres.
As expected the Mercedes pair are back out on the 2021 prototype tyres given they hadn't completed the required eight timed laps during the opening stint at the start of FP2. No rules on when in the session those laps need to be notched up, just Mercedes going against the trend.
That marks the end of the qualifying sims on the soft tyres. It is a familiar picture at the top of the times with Bottas from Hamilton and then the Red Bulls with Verstappen from Albon. After that just two-tenths splits Norris in P5 down to Sainz in P12.
Verstappen is the latest to lose his fastest lap time for exceeding track limits at Turn 21 but he remains third given his next quickest effort was only 0.017s slower.
Verstappen, now on the softs, puts in the fastest first sector time of any driver but catches up to the rear of Perez at Turn 14, with the Racing Point driver on a long run, so Verstappen backs out of the lap.
Albon has finally got a timed effort on the board using the 2020 tyres after his earlier track limits issues. The Red Bull driver, on the softs, jumps up to fourth with a 1m37.263s.
Moments later Gasly suffers something similar to Bottas but he can't catch the slide as he spins around at Turn 1. With ample run-off area there's no drama as the AlphaTauri driver gets going again.
Bottas on his first timed effort on the softs doesn't get further than the exit of Turn 1 as the car gets twitchy and he runs wide on the corner exit before backing out of the lap.
Hamilton on his first flying lap on the softs puts in a 1m36.097s to go top but it is all for nothing as he runs fractionally wide at Turn 21 so his time is struck from the record.
Meanwhile Vettel, on the hards, locks up his front-left which forces him to run wide. Gently does it.
The Williams pair are the first to try out the softs in this session, with Russell putting in a 1m38.817s to move up to P12, but he might have gone too far wide and off the track at Turn 21.
FP1's timesheet topper Verstappen has been pretty quiet during this session, but makes his mark by jumping up to third with a 1m37.057s, seven-tenths of a second off Bottas.
Albon has another lap time deleted for track limits, this time at Turn 20, meaning he is still stuck at the bottom of the timesheet. Both Ferrari drivers have also been pinged for the same offence but at Turn 21.
Perez won't be overly fussed about a outright lap times given he's starting this race from the back of the grid due to power unit penalties but the Mexican, on mediums, goes third with a 1m37.506s.
Albon, the next one out on the mediums, goes up to second place in this session with a 1m37.015s - oh, he did until the lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 21.
Hamilton duly goes fastest in this session with his first timed effort on the mediums with a 1m36.479s.
The drivers are now returning to the pits after the tyre testing. Hamilton is already back out on the 2020 medium tyres having completed a shorter stint than the rest.
Gasly has climbed up to third place with a 1m38.921s but still cannot get within one second of the Mercedes duo. Raikkonen is fourth with Sakhir GP winner Perez in fifth.
Hamilton is requested to pit for a steering wheel swap. Not too often that happens mid-session, but the F1 world champion duly comes in, takes a new wheel and goes on his merry way. Wheelie simple.
Both Mercedes drivers are currently a full second clear of the rest on the current times, with Raikkonen in third with a 1m 38.943s. Let's hope that isn't too much of a hint at how 2021 will go, at least from a competition standpoint.
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