The title protagonists Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen exchanged the fastest times in the first two practice sessions before the end of the season of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The pair have 369.5 points ahead of Sunday’s race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Both enjoyed topping the timesheets here on the first day of the race, Verstappen the fastest in the morning before Hamilton dominated the second session.
Due to the changes to the Yas Marina racetrack, Verstappen ran over 12 seconds faster than the fastest time in the corresponding session here last year.
The Dutchman’s Red Bull set the early bar on the changed route and crossed the finish line with a time of one minute 25.009 seconds, 0.346 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who was third behind his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
Under the floodlights of Yas Marina, the second session went in the other direction as Hamilton set about showing the pace in his Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion impressed with a time of 1: 23.691 s, with Verstappen only fourth fastest, 0.641 behind.
The Alpines ‘Esteban Ocon was closest to Hamilton in second place, still 0.343 behind the pace while Bottas’ sister Mercedes was in third place.
Verstappen ousted his team-mate Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso’s Alpine finished sixth and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri seventh.
The top 10 were completed by the Ferraris, Charles Leclerc being faster than Carlos Sainz and AlphaTauris Pierre Gasly.
The session ended prematurely when Kimi Raikkonen retired on his last race weekend in Formula 1.
FP2 results:
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes 1m23.691s
2. Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m24.034s
3. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes 1m24,083s
4. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m24.332s
5. Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m24.400s
6. Fernando Alonso ESP Alpine F1 Team 1m24.495s
7. Yuki Tsunoda JPN AlphaTauri 1m24.532s
8. Charles Leclerc MY Scuderia Ferrari 1m24.557s
9. Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1m24.844s
10. Pierre Gasly FRA AlphaTauri 1m24.940s
11. Daniel Ricciardo FROM McLaren F1 Team 1m24.959s
12. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo 1m25.108s
13. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m25.153s
14. Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin 1m25,195s
15. Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin 1m25.385s
16. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo 1m25.440s
17. George Russell GBR Williams Racing 1m25.549s
18th Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m25,687s
19. Mick Schumacher GER Haas F1 Team 1m25.748s
20. Nikita Mazepin RUS Haas F1 Team 1m26,336s
