Bottas fastest but reprimanded in Abu Dhabi practice

Valtteri Bottas was in command of the opening day’s running at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after topping both sessions.

The Mercedes driver went half a second faster than Max Verstappen in the opening session, before ending Practice 2 three tenths up on Lewis Hamilton.

Bottas chalked up 52 laps across the two sessions ending the day with a best of 1:36.256s.

His Mercedes team-mate was second fastest for the day after conditions improved in the second 90 minute hit-out, though only narrowly over Charles Leclerc.

Just over half a tenth split the duo, Leclerc’s 1:36.642s a slender 0.076s slower than the world champion-elect.

However, it was far from plain sailing for Bottas after he clashed with Romain Grosjean in Practice 2, officials deeming the Finn at fault.

Looking to dive underneath the Haas driver at the end of the second long straight making contact as Grosjean attempted to make the corner.

According to stewards, “Valtteri accepted responsibility for the collision and acknowledged that it was a failed attempt at an overtake which resulted in the collision”.

Stewards elected to hand Bottas his first reprimand of the 2019 season while much of Grosjean’s Friday work was put to waste as his car will change spec in order to effect repairs.

It made for an eventful opening day at the Yas Marina circuit which also saw Sebastian Vettel crash out of opening practice and Daniel Ricciardo suffer an engine failure.

The Australian’s engine cried enough after an hour of Practice 1, halting proceedings for 10 minutes when his car detonated.

Though pulling off the road immediately, it left a trail of oil, and debris, that forced a mid-session clean up.

Down on pace, Vettel’s opening session ended against the wall at Turn 19, the 90 degree left hander exiting the hotel.

The Ferrari driver lost the back end of his car and was pitched into the fence in the closing minutes of the session which he ended fifth, 1.9 seconds off Bottas’ pace.

In Practice 1, behind pace setters Bottas and Verstappen, Hamilton was third from Alex Albon (Red Bull), then Vettel, Grosjean, Leclerc, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), and Nico Hulkenberg (Renault).

Times condensed in Practice 2, with the top five covered by a second versus only the top three in Practice 1.

Trailing Bottas, Hamilton, and Leclerc in that session were Vettel, Verstappen, Albon, Grosjean, Sergio Perez (Racing Point), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso), and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso).

Ricciardo set a best of 1:38.400s which was good enough for just 16th, following on from his shortened opening session that left him 19th.

Practice in Abu Dhabi continues at 2100 AEDT Saturday evening with qualifying following at midnight.

Results: Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Practice 2

Pos	Num	Driver	Team	Time	Diff
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	01:36.256
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	01:36.566	+0.310s
3	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	01:36.642	+0.386s
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	01:36.691	+0.435s
5	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	01:36.807	+0.551s
6	23	Alexander Albon	RED BULL RACING HONDA	01:37.288	+1.032s
7	8	Romain Grosjean	HAAS FERRARI	01:37.601	+1.345s
8	11	Sergio Perez	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	01:37.637	+1.381s
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	01:37.651	+1.395s
10	10	Pierre Gasly	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	01:37.770	+1.514s
11	55	Carlos Sainz	MCLAREN RENAULT	01:37.834	+1.578s
12	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN RENAULT	01:37.918	+1.662s
13	18	Lance Stroll	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	01:37.985	+1.729s
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	01:38.080	+1.824s
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	RENAULT	01:38.122	+1.866s
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RENAULT	01:38.400	+2.144s
17	7	Kimi Raikkonen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	01:38.415	+2.159s
18	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	01:38.464	+2.208s
19	63	George Russell	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	01:39.512	+3.256s
20	88	Robert Kubica	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	01:40.455	+4.199s

Results: Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Practice 1

Pos	Num	Driver	Team	Time	Diff
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	01:36.957
2	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	01:37.492	+0.535s
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	01:37.591	+0.634s
4	23	Alexander Albon	RED BULL RACING HONDA	01:38.084	+1.127s
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	01:38.906	+1.949s
6	8	Romain Grosjean	HAAS FERRARI	01:39.146	+2.189s
7	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	01:39.249	+2.292s
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	01:39.350	+2.393s
9	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	01:39.423	+2.466s
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	RENAULT	01:39.505	+2.548s
11	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN RENAULT	01:39.628	+2.671s
12	18	Lance Stroll	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	01:39.864	+2.907s
13	7	Kimi Raikkonen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	01:39.888	+2.931s
14	11	Sergio Perez	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	01:39.901	+2.944s
15	26	Daniil Kvyat	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	01:39.969	+3.012s
16	10	Pierre Gasly	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	01:40.401	+3.444s
17	55	Carlos Sainz	MCLAREN RENAULT	01:40.687	+3.730s
18	88	Robert Kubica	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	01:40.792	+3.835s
19	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RENAULT	01:40.850	+3.893s
20	63	George Russell	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	01:41.362	+4.405s