Formula 1

ABU DHABI : BOTTAS FASTEST IN FP2, RAIKKONEN’S CAR CATCHES FIRE

Published

2 years ago

11/12/2020

ABU DHABI BOTTAS FASTEST IN FP2 RAIKKONEN S CAR CATCHES FIRE

Results for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit, the 17th and final round of the 2020 F1 world championship season.

Valtteri Bottas ended Friday practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix fastest, ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton who returns to race this weekend after recovering from COVID-19.

Bottas set a time of 1m36.276s to continue his strong run of practice performances, with Hamilton just behind him and practice one pacesetter Max Verstappen completing the top three for Red Bull.

But all three failed to put together a clean lap on soft tyres, with their medium runs standing as their fastest and leaving the outright pace picture unclear.

Running in the evening practice session was blighted with track limits warnings and lap deletions, and a test of Pirelli’s 2021 tyres also took place in the opening stage of running – with all drivers having to do eight laps on these first.

With a little under 15 minutes to go in the session, the rear of Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo caught fire and he pulled to the side of the track, causing a red flag period.

Raikkonen – who had at that point set a time fast enough for 14th – assisted marshals in extinguishing the flames and returned to the pits.

2020 F1 ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2)


POS	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	TIME
1	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1m 36.276
2	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team	1m 36.479
3	Max Verstappen	NED	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	1m 37.046
4	Alexander Albon	THA	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	1m 37.263
5	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1m 37.438
6	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Renault F1 Team	1m 37.505
7	Sergio Perez	MEX	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	1m 37.506
8	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 37.508
9	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Renault F1 Team	1m 37.508
10	Lance Stroll	CAN	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	1m 37.560
11	Daniil Kvyat	RUS	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1m 37.596
12	Carlos Sainz	SPA	McLaren F1 Team	1m 37.616
13	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1m 37.900
14	Kimi Raikkonen	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen	1m 38.068
15	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 38.198
16	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	1m 38.504
17	Antonio Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen	1m 38.564
18	George Russell	GBR	Williams Racing	1m 38.817
19	Pietro Fittipaldi	BRA	Haas F1 Team	1m 39.027
20	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	1m 39.132

The session resumed with seven minutes remaining, but Hamilton’s Mercedes stopped in the pitlane, with him reporting that he “couldn’t get in gear” over the radio.

Mechanics attended to him and managed to get the car restarted for a final run.

Verstappen’s under-fire Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon was fourth, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Sakhir Grand Prix podium finisher Esteban Ocon.

Sergio Perez, who won last weekend for Racing Point but will start this week’s race from the rear of the grid as a result of an engine penalty, was seventh.

Charles Leclerc was the highest placed Ferrari in eighth, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel languishing in 15th.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was ninth. Lance Stroll completed the top 10 for Racing Point.

Battery issues confined George Russell to the garage in the latter half of the session on his return to Williams this weekend, leaving him in 18th place overall.

Ouch….there's going to be some good work for the @alfaromeoracingorlen team tonight!

Thank God Kimi is alright!#formula1 #F1 #formula1racing #abughabigp #AbuDhabiGP #AbuDhabi #AbuDhabigrandprix pic.twitter.com/m5Ag3c4wfa— Zee Formula 1 Amateur (@Formula1amateur) December 11, 2020