Rosberg pips Hamilton, tops in FP2: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last race of the season

Abu Dhabi, 27 Nov 2015: Nico Rosberg took over at the top of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend timesheet, running just over a tenth of a second quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton, the fastest man from the early afternoon opening session.

Rosberg’s best time, set in the period of running on this weekend’s options supersoft tyres, was a

1:41.983. Hamilton set off on his qualifying style run after the German but fell short by 0.138s.

Sergio Perez took a surprise third place for Force India, though he best lap was six tenths down on Rosberg’s P1 time. Fourth place in the session went to Daniel Ricciardo with the Red Bull Racing drivers’ lap of 1:42.647 being just under a tenth of a second better than that of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Daniil Kvyat was sixth-quickest in the second Red Bull Racing car, the Russian finishing ahead of Ferraris Kimi Räikkönen and the second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg.

Fernando Alonso managed to haul his McLaren-Honda into the top 10 with a lap of 1:42.955 that was inside a second of Rosberg. Tenth placein the session went to Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado.

Unlike the mostly smooth running of first practice the evening session saw Carlos Sainz hit trouble. With half an hour remaining, the Spaniard was forced to stop his car on circuit with an apparent engine issue.

The main incident of the session came with 30 minutes to go, when Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz was forced to stop his car due to an apparent engine problem.

Perez’s good evening also came to an early end with the Mexican bowing out with brake issues with 15 minutes left on the clock.

2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:41.983 39
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:42.121 +0.138 31
3 Sergio Perez Force India 1:42.610 +0.627 23
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:42.647 +0.664 37
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:42.717 +0.734 35
6 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:42.798 +0.815 34
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:42.849 +0.866 36
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:42.928 +0.945 35
9 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:42.955 +0.972 31
10 Pastor Maldonado Lotus F1 Team 1:43.431 +1.448 37
11 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:43.441 +1.458 32
12 Felipe Massa Williams 1:43.506 +1.523 33
13 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:43.662 +1.679 40
14 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:43.854 +1.871 20
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus F1 Team 1:43.929 +1.946 27
16 Jenson Button McLaren 1:44.050 +2.067 32
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:44.116 +2.133 37
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:45.245 +3.262 28
19 Will Stevens Manor 1:46.450 +4.467 35
20 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:47.022 +5.039 27

eom/FIA press release