Hamilton Edges Vettel in Second Practice at Yas Marina

Lewis Hamilton took top spot in second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, edging out Sebastian Vettel by just under fifteen hundredths of a second. Daniel Ricciardo finished was third, separated from Vettel by almost the same margin.

As with the early afternoon session at the Yas Marina Circuit, it was Mercedes driver Hamilton who set the early pace, holding P1 with a time 0.8s clear of Ricciardo.

The session’s qualifying simulations came early on however, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas embarking on his performance run before the half hour mark and his time of 1:38.609s elevated him to the top of the timesheet.

Vettel briefly took over before Hamilton became the only driver to break the 1m38s barrier with his P1 lap of 1:37.877. Vettel was only marginally off that pace, however, with his best effort yielding a time of 1:38.026.

Behind the top three, Kimi Räikkönen finished the 90-minute session in fourth place 0.172s behind Ricciardo and almost two tenths clear of fifth-placed Bottas. Max Verstappen was fourth in the second Red Bull, the Dutchman having a much quieter session than his opening 90 minutes, in which he finished third, just 0.148s behind early afternoon pacesetter Vettel. In the late session Verstappen finished sixth and a full second adrift of Hamilton’s pace and seven tenths behind team-mate Ricciardo.

The Dutchman was followed by the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, who were separated by just 0.010s. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.

2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 39 1:37.877
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 37 1:38.026 0.149
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 34 1:38.180 0.303
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 35 1:38.352 0.475
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 33 1:38.537 0.660
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 34 1:38.894 1.017
7 Sergio Perez Force India 33 1:39.323 1.446
8 Esteban Ocon Force India 36 1:39.333 1.456
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 41 1:39.529 1.652
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren 28 1:39.559 1.682
11 Felipe Massa Williams 36 1:39.635 1.758
12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 31 1:39.671 1.794
13 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 38 1:40.201 2.324
14 Lance Stroll Williams 30 1:40.329 2.452
15 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 39 1:40.694 2.817
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 31 1:41.128 3.251
17 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 43 1:41.270 3.393
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 40 1:41.302 3.425
19 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 39 1:41.496 3.619
20 Romain Grosjean Haas 12 1:41.560 3.683

FIA