Sebastian Vettel pips McLarens at Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel has edged out the fast McLaren pair in the opening two practice sessions in Abu Dhabi.

The Red Bull championship leader trailed both of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in Practice 1, but turned the tables in Practice 2, edging out the pair by little over 0.1s.

Vettel and Hamilton battled for the fastest time during the first hour of the quicker second session, but the times  failed to improve as the ambient and track temperatures dropped.

The German eventually won the fight with 1m 41.751s, ahead of Hamilton, Button and the second Red Bull of Mark Webber.

The Lotus pair of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen were next fastest, ahead of Vettel’s championship rival Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari star put in a late quick time to finish fourth fastest in the first session, but could only mange seventh in Practice 2.

Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and Sergio Perez (Sauber) completed the top 10.

Practice 1, Abu Dhabi

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Gap	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:43.285		21
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:43.618	0.333	19
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:44.050	0.765	23
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:44.366	1.081	21
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:44.542	1.257	22
6	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:44.694	1.409	23
7	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:45.115	1.830	26
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:45.194	1.909	19
9	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	1:45.347	2.062	25
10	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:45.422	2.137	15
11	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:45.567	2.282	24
12	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:45.587	2.302	20
13	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:45.722	2.437	20
14	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:45.743	2.458	20
15	11	Jules Bianchi	Force India-Mercedes	1:45.769	2.484	22
16	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:45.811	2.526	22
17	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:46.649	3.364	24
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:46.708	3.423	26
19	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1:47.418	4.133	23
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:47.891	4.606	21
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:48.354	5.069	22
22	25	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	1:48.887	5.602	22
23	23	Qing Hua Ma	HRT-Cosworth	1:50.487	7.202	20
24	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	No time		3

Practice 2, Abu Dhabi

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:41.751		34
2	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:41.919	0.168	34
3	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:42.412	0.661	36
4	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:42.466	0.715	21
5	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:42.500	0.749	34
6	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	1:42.532	0.781	28
7	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:42.587	0.836	31
8	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:42.823	1.072	33
9	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:42.998	1.247	37
10	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:43.106	1.355	36
11	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	1:43.191	1.440	34
12	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:43.200	1.449	36
13	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:43.255	1.504	34
14	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:43.267	1.516	32
15	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:43.578	1.827	34
16	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1:43.689	1.938	32
17	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:44.260	2.509	27
18	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:45.005	3.254	19
19	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	1:45.245	3.494	36
20	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1:45.782	4.031	33
21	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1:46.589	4.838	36
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1:46.671	4.920	32
23	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1:46.707	4.956	26
24	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1:47.406	5.655	35