Hamilton tops Friday running at Abu Dhabi, Hartley gets another grid penalty

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Lewis Hamilton beat Sebastian Vettel to the fastest time in second practice for the Formula 1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Hamilton clocked a 1m37.877s to finish 0.149 seconds clear of Vettel’s Ferrari with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo a tenth and a half further back in third.

Hamilton, who was pipped to the quickest time in first practice by Vettel, set the early benchmark with a 1m39.720s, with Ricciardo just 0.040s off in second.

The Briton continued with that run and improved again, with a 1m38.912s, to move 0.848s clear of Ricciardo as the sun set at Yas Marina.

Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to complete a qualifying simulation, clocking a 1m38.609s to go quickest in his Mercedes.

The Finn was usurped by Vettel before Hamilton became the first and only man to dip into the 1m37s.

With just over 40 minutes to go, attention turned to long-run data gathering, with Bottas and Hamilton focusing on the ultra-softs.

Hamilton then joined Vettel on running the super-softs for the final part of the 90-minute session, which provided conditions that would be similar to those in the race.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was fourth quickest, 0.475s off the pace, with Bottas two tenths further back in fifth.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a second off the pace in seventh and 0.7s slower than team-mate Ricciardo.

Force India duo Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, who were separated by just 0.010s, were eighth and ninth respectively.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.

Felipe Massa, contesting his last grand prix weekend, was the leading Williams in 11th, seven tenths ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll.

Romain Grosjean spent most of the session in the garage as his Haas team worked on fixing an electrical problem, and completed just 12 laps.

FP2 times

POSDRIVERCARTIMEGAPLAPS
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1m37.877s39
2Sebastian VettelFerrari1m38.026s0.149s37
3Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault1m38.180s0.303s34
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1m38.352s0.475s35
5Valtteri BottasMercedes1m38.537s0.660s33
6Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault1m38.894s1.017s34
7Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1m39.323s1.446s33
8Esteban OconForce India/Mercedes1m39.333s1.456s36
9Nico HulkenbergRenault1m39.529s1.652s41
10Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda1m39.559s1.682s28
11Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1m39.635s1.758s36
12Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren/Honda1m39.671s1.794s31
13Carlos SainzRenault1m40.201s2.324s38
14Lance StrollWilliams/Mercedes1m40.329s2.452s30
15Pierre GaslyToro Rosso/Renault1m40.694s2.817s39
16Kevin MagnussenHaas/Ferrari1m41.128s3.251s31
17Pascal WehrleinSauber/Ferrari1m41.270s3.393s43
18Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1m41.302s3.425s40
19Brendon HartleyToro Rosso/Renault1m41.496s3.619s39
20Romain GrosjeanHaas/Ferrari1m41.560s3.683s12

Hamilton tops Friday running at Abu Dhabi, Hartley gets another grid penalty

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