Yas Marina, FP2: Hamilton edges Vettel in second practice

Lewis Hamilton took top spot in second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, edging out Sebastian Vettel by just under fifteen hundredths of a second. Daniel Ricciardo finished third, separated from Vettel by almost the same margin.

As with the early afternoon session at the Yas Marina Circuit, it was Mercedes driver Hamilton who set the early pace, holding P1 with a time 0.8s clear of Ricciardo.

The session’s qualifying simulations came early on however, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas embarking on his performance run before the half hour mark and his time of 1:38.609s elevated him to the top of the timesheet.

Vettel briefly took over before Hamilton became the only driver to break the 1m38s barrier with his P1 lap of 1:37.877. Vettel was only marginally off that pace, however, with his best effort yielding a time of 1:38.026.

Behind the top three, Kimi Räikkönen finished the 90-minute session in fourth place 0.172s behind Ricciardo and almost two tenths clear of fifth-placed Bottas. Max Verstappen was fourth in the second Red Bull, the Dutchman having a much quieter session than his opening 90 minutes, in which he finished third, just 0.148s behind early afternoon pacesetter Vettel. In the late session Verstappen finished sixth and a full second adrift of Hamilton’s pace and seven tenths behind team-mate Ricciardo.

The Dutchman was followed by the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, who were separated by just 0.010s. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.