Mercedes seems to be up to speed, but Red Bull is not far from it
FP2 was dominated by Mercedes, who finished two of the top three, and Lewis Hamilton will confidently go into Saturday’s qualifying.
On Friday, he finished six tenths ahead of Max Verstappen, who admitted being too slow at times, but Red Bull team principal Christian Horner optimistically pointed out that his team had 23 hours to find the extra speed they had before succeeded.
Saturday’s qualifying will be crucial not only in determining track positioning for Sunday’s race, but also in seeing whether Red Bull has managed to close the gap on its title rivals.
The drivers are fans of the new Yas Marina layout
The Yas Marina racetrack was rebuilt this year and seems to be a universal hit with drivers.
No one has won more on this track than Hamilton, yet he said the changes made the track “more fun and a lot smoother”.
His title rival Verstappen repeated this statement and called it “more fun driving”.
Bottas will play a key role as a rear shooter for Hamilton on Sunday (Photo: Getty)
“In general, faster turns are more fun, especially the last sector was always a bit tight camber,” said Verstappen.
“It’s still off camber, but at least the radius is a little rounder, we say. I think they are positive. “
A former Verstappen teammate Pierre Gasly said it felt like a new track at higher speeds than before.
The proof will be in the pudding in Sunday’s race when the ability to overtake will dominate or break the redesigned track.
More of formula 1
Leclerc, Norris and Sainz are fighting for fifth place
While the world is watching, it’s about fifth place in the drivers’ standings.
Charles Leclerc is currently fifth in the drivers’ championship. (Photo: Reuters)
It looks like Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is leading with 158 points, but is only four points ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Leclerc’s team-mate Carlos Sainz is also not far behind with 149.5 points.
In FP2 there was little to separate the Ferrari drivers, who finished 8th and 9th, while Norris languished in 13th place.
The Horner and Wolff armistice may not last long
The battle of words between Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and his Red Bull colleague Christian Horner became more and more bitter as the season progressed, but during their press conference on Friday they seemed to bury the hatchet for the time being.
The couple shook hands with Wolff and said, “May the best man and team win,” and while Horner agreed, that could change if Hamilton and Verstappen have another collision on the track.
Raikkonen’s farewell to Formula 1
Raikkonen will end his career in Abu Dhabi in December (Photo: Getty)
Crashing against the wall at the end of FP2 would not have been the magical ending that Raikkonen fans would have hoped for, but provided his team can repair his car on time, he will be on the grid for the last time on Sunday 354. Grand Prix.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marks the end of the Finn’s 20-year career, in which he won 21 races, made 103 podiums and collected a total of 1,873 career points. The highlight was his world championship title in 2007
Raikkonen will not be the only one to say goodbye on Sunday either; Valtteri Bottas, Antonio Giovinazzi and George Russell are also leaving their current teams.
The post Lewis Hamilton increased the training pace, as the new track promises a lot first appeared on monter-une-startup.
