Abu Dhabi, FP2: Bottas maintains peace and collides with Grosjean

A strange session on the Yas Marina Circuit

By Franck Drui

29 November 2019 - 15:41
Abu Dhabi, FP2: Bottas maintains (...)

After topping the opening practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas continued to set the pace at the Yas Marina circuit with the Finn beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton by three tenths of a second in FP2. However, Bottas’ good work was undermined when he was involved in a collision with Haas’ Romain Grosjean late in the session.

Bottas spent the opening portion of the 90-minute session behind early pacesetter Hamilton, with both drivers running on medium tyres. As the session edged towards it midpoint, Bottas moved to soft tyres for a qualifying run and he promptly jumped to the top the order with a lap of 1:36.256. The lap put him 0.310m clear of Hamilton.

After establishing himself in P1, Bottas then moved back to medium tyres for a lengthy stint in the second half of the session. It was during this period that he clashed with Grosjean.

The Frenchman went wide into Turn 11 and seeing a gap Bottas dived down the inside. Grojean was already turning in, however and the pair collided with debris being strewn across the track. The session was briefly red-flagged as the debris was cleared from the track. Bottas was later handed a reprimand over the incident by stewards.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was third fastest in the session, with the Monegasque racer finishing 0.386s behind Bottas. Leclerc’s time came at the second attempt after his first was scuppered by a loss of control in Turn 19 that resulted in the Ferrari man slapping the wall with his rear right wheel. Leclerc made it back to the pits where he took a second set of softs with which he claimed third place.

Sebastian Vettel was fourth quickest in the second Ferrari. The German crashed out at the end of the first session and in FP2 used a fresh gearbox to set a best time of 1:36.691, more than four tenths of a second behind Bottas. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fifth quickest, though the Brazilian Grand Prix winner ended the session 0.551s off the pace.

Alex Albon completed a top six order filled by the top three teams and that5 left best-of-the-rest seventh place to Grosjean. Sergio Perez finished in P7, just 0.036s behind the Frenchman, with Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Pierre finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Pos.DriverCarTimeLaps
01 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes W10 1:36.256 29
02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes W10 1:36.566 33
03 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF90 1:36.642 30
04 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF90 1:36.691 28
05 Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda RB15 1:36.807 30
06 Alex Albon Red Bull Honda RB15 1:37.288 30
07 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari VF-19 1:37.601 17
08 Sergio Pérez Racing Point Mercedes RP19 1:37.637 32
09 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1:37.651 34
10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Honda STR14 1:37.770 36
11 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault MCL34 1:37.834 32
12 Lando Norris McLaren Renault MCL34 1:37.918 32
13 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes RP19 1:37.985 32
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari VF-19 1:38.080 31
15 Nico Hülkenberg Renault RS19 1:38.122 29
16 Daniel Ricciardo Renault RS19 1:38.400 26
17 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 1:38.415 30
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari C38 1:38.464 32
19 George Russell Williams Mercedes FW42 1:39.512 32
20 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes FW42 1:40.455 32

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