Abu Dhabi, FP2: Verstappen quickest in second practice

World champion Max Verstappen topped the timesheet in the second practice session for this weekend’s season-ending 2022 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix beating George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc went quickest early in the session with a lap of 1:26.645 but as the quarter hour mark arrived, Verstappen moved ahead with a lap of 1: 25.449s on soft compound tyres.

The Red Bull driver then completed a second run and lowered the benchmark to 1:25.335.

Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez then took but the Mexican was a little over half-a-second adrift of the Dutchman after a scrappy final sector. Leclerc then used his first flying lap on the red-walled soft compound to beat Pérez by over two tenths of a second to sit 0.264s adrift of Verstappen.

Just past the halfway mark the two Mercedes cars emerged on soft tyres and Russell soon moved ahead of Leclerc with a lap of 1:25.487. Hamilton then went for his performance run but despite setting the session’s best first sector time, the seven-time champion lost time in the final sector and had to settle for fourth on the timesheet.

Verstappen at last emerged for another run and promptly set the session’s quickest lap with a time of 1:15.146.

Pérez went out on track at the same time as his team-mate but he couldn’t match Verstappen’s pace and he ended up 0.706s slower than the champion, in fifth place.

Sixth place on the timesheet went to Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, with the SPnaird just eight hundredths of a second behind Pérez.

Esteban Ocon finished in seventh place ahead of Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso, while Daniel Ricciardo took his McLaren to P9, almost two tenths ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.