Hamilton quickest in FP2: Final GP to decide champ

Yas Marina (Abu Dhabi), 10 Dec 2021: Lewis Hamilton went quickest in second practice for Formula 1’s championship showdown at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, with the seven-time champion finishing ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen finished fourth, more than six tenths of behind the Briton as Kimi Raïkkönen crashed heavily in the final moments of the session.

Bottas set the early pace on medium tyres with a lap of 1:25.339.  McLaren’s Lando Norris, on soft tyres, then took over in P1 with a time of 1:25.153, before Hamilton moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1:25.127.

After a slight lull, during which Norris briefly moved back to P1, Hamilton found more pace and retook P1 with a lap of 1:24.943 before working down to best of 1:24.126 as the firstr quarter of the hour passed. Hamilton’s best time put him nearly a second clear of Verstappen who had a lap deleted for exceeding track limits.

There was a nervouse moment for Bottas when his clipped the wall on the exit of Turn 14 but he was able to return to the pits to have the damage assessed.

The Finn soon retunred to the action on soft tyres but he was unable to better Hamilton’s medium tyres time, ending up 0.146s adrift. Bottas made another attempt, however, took top spot with a lap of 1:24.083.

Hamilton and Verstappen then appeared on the softs, but neither was able to better Bottas’ time. Ocon then delivered a surprise by posting a lao of 1:24.034 to take P1 for Alpine.

Verstappen went for anther lap but again couldn’t find sufficient pace. Hamilton made two further attempts and after falling short on his second attempt his third of 1:23.691 at last netted him P1  That put him 0.343s clear of Ocon, with Bottas 0.392s back and Verstappen down by 0.641s.

Sergio Pérez finished fifth in the second Red Bull, ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, the Ferrari cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and the second AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.

With just over one minute left on the clock Räikkönen crashed. The Finn lost the rear of his car in Turn 14 and he slide into the barriers severely damaging both ends of his Alfa Romeo. The session was red-flagged and was not restarted.

2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.691 26 227.164
2 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:24.034 0.343 29 226.236
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:24.083 0.392 29 226.105
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:24.332 0.641 25 225.437
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:24.400 0.709 26 225.255
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:24.495 0.804 27 225.002
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:24.532 0.841 26 224.904
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.557 0.866 29 224.837
9 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:24.844 1.153 29 224.077
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:24.940 1.249 27 223.823
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:24.959 1.268 26 223.773
12 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:25.108 1.417 27 223.382
13 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:25.153 1.462 27 223.264
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:25.195 1.504 27 223.153
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:25.385 1.694 26 222.657
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:25.440 1.749 23 222.514
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:25.549 1.858 29 222.230
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:25.687 1.996 22 221.872
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:25.784 2.093 27 221.621
a20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:26.336 2.645 26 220.204