Encouraging signs for Verstappen as Hamilton-Bottas struggled to compete in Abu Dhabi during FP1

Max Verstappen took an early advantage on the last F1 weekend when the Dutchman topped the timesheet for the first practice session in Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton made quite good progress but struggled to beat Verstappen throughout the session.

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Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez managed to get closer to Verstappen, suggesting an insane four-way battle for victory. Behind the hard-fought Mercedes and Red Bull, the AlphaTauri couple Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly enjoyed a commendable session and achieved P5 and P7, while Fernando Alonso smuggled his Alpine between the two of them to P6.

How the F1 session developed

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Hamilton drove the fastest lap of the afternoon with 1: 27: 148, but Verstappen overtook the lap with 1: 2: 463 and was the fastest. Then came the comeback round of the Briton, who regained the lead with 1: 26: 290 and almost gave us an idea of ​​what was to come on Saturday and Sunday.

Formula 1 F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – December 10, 2021 Red Bulls Max Verstappen during practice REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed

Most drivers stuck to the softest tire compound, the red C5 soft tires. Meanwhile, some including Raikkonen and the Haas duo opted for Medium, and Giovinazzi opted for hard tires.

Meanwhile, there was a moment of panic in Red Bull’s garage; 25 minutes into the session, Verstappen went back to the garage after complaining about steering wheel problems. Fortunately, it only took the engineers 8 minutes to figure out what was wrong and fix it.

Red Bull shows superiority over Mercedes

From the moment the pit lane opened, Verstappen drove some decent laps, with the fastest time being 1:25: 300. Despite looking as fast as ever, Hamilton struggled to keep up with the Dutchman in terms of the pace of a lap.

Formula 1 F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – December 10, 2021 Mercedes mechanics during a tire change exercise on Valtteri Bottas’ car before the REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed practice

The Brit was over 0.25 seconds behind his rival. Meanwhile, Perez looked crucial against his Mercedes equivalent Bottas. We were therefore able to witness very well how Perez and Bottas helped their respective teammates to win the world championship title.

Turn 1 causes more problems

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During the 60 minute session, the F1 drivers struggled to keep their cars under control on a few corners, with Turn 1 being the most complicated.

Formula 1 F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – December 10, 2021 Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes during practice REUTERS / Hamad I Mohammed

The list included the Alfa Romeo duo Giovinazzi, Räikkönen and Mercedes-Bottas, who ran two times far in two consecutive laps. So this could cause some headache for the teams in the most important qualifying session of the season.

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Overall, a rather peaceful session comes to an end, but it almost feels like the ‘calm before the storm’, because the enthusiasm should increase in the following sessions.

View story: Mad Max: Verstappen’s furthest rants on Team Radio

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