Yas Marina, FP2: Hamilton edges out Rosberg again
Hamilton stays ahead in practice at Yas Marina
After running quickest in the opening practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton doubled up in the late afternoon, the championship leader beating team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg to top spot in FP2.
The gap between the two was vanishingly low, however. In the morning just over a tenth of a second separated the pair but in the second session, on the option super soft tyre, Rosberg narrowed the deficit to 0.083s.
Third in the session was Kevin Magnussen, the McLaren driver getting to within 0.7s of Hamilton’s benchmark. In the morning Fernando Alonso occupied that position, though 1.7s down on the Hamilton’s best time. In the afternoon the Ferrari driver had an altogether more difficult time, with a suspected electrical problem halting his progress after just two laps.
With Magnussen third then, Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel finished fourth with Valtteri Bottas fifth. After his work in the first session ended after just eight laps due to a bodywork problem, Bottas had a more profitable run in the second outing, the Finn completing 34 laps and finishing just under a second off Hamilton’s time.
Daniel Ricciardo was sixth fastest for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
Like Bottas, McLaren’s Jenson Button had limited running in the morning due to a hydraulic issue and work on the problem kept him in the garage for part of the evening session. He eventually managed to take to the circuit and completed 20 laps to claim the eighth fastest time of the session.
Daniil Kvyat was ninth for Toro Rosso and the top 10 order was rounded out by Williams’ Felipe Massa.
Elsewhere, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean had been handed ad20-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after his team made multiple changes to his engine for the race weekend.
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG | 1:42.113 | 35 |
02 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG | 1:42.196 | 37 |
03 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 1:42.895 | 37 |
04 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Renault | 1:42.959 | 33 |
05 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 1:43.070 | 34 |
06 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Renault | 1:43.183 | 32 |
07 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:43.489 | 33 |
08 | Jenson Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1:43.503 | 23 |
09 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso Renault | 1:43.546 | 38 |
10 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:43.558 | 34 |
11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:43.746 | 37 |
12 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus Renault | 1:44.005 | 38 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 1:44.068 | 32 |
04 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso Renault | 1:44.157 | 39 |
15 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber Ferrari | 1:44.316 | 38 |
16 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber Ferrari | 1:44.763 | 37 |
17 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus Renault | 1:44.986 | 35 |
18 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham Renault | 1:45.505 | 38 |
19 | Will Stevens | Caterham Renault | 1:47.057 | 34 |
20 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | -:—.--- | 2 |