Abu Dhabi – Free Practice 2: Vettel gets down to business

The mercury still shows 33 degrees in the air at the start of free practice 2. The track, meanwhile, is at 37 degrees.

The lights turn green at the end of the pit lane, and many drivers leave their pit to join the track. This is the case, among others, for Kimi Räikkönen, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Daniel Ricciardo. *Iceman* is the first to set a lap time with 1:44.360, close to his teammate’s best time this morning. Only 5 minutes have passed, and already 9 drivers have completed a timed lap.

Jenson Button seems more comfortable in the seat of his McLaren. The Englishman complained of a significant lack of grip this morning and now sets the best time of the session with 1:44.079.

**After 15 minutes** the two McLarens are in front. Pérez is ahead of Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen. Van der Garde, Bianchi, Pic, and Chilton are at the back of the pack. Everyone now has a timed lap.

A lot of action on the track and the ranking keeps changing with each driver’s pass on the start/finish line of the Yas Marina circuit. After 20 minutes the Top 3 has completely changed with Vettel leading with a time of 1:43.062 ahead of Rosberg and Grosjean.

The hierarchy changes once more with the soft tires fitted on the cars. After 30 minutes, it’s Kimi Räikkönen who shows the fastest pace with the softs ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, also on softs, and Mark Webber still on mediums.

After brake problems, Paul di Resta returns to the pits and it seems that his session is over as the midway point approaches and the teams, as is often the case, will fully focus on preparing for Sunday’s race with long stints.

45 minutes have passed in this second session of the day and it’s the two Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber occupying the front spots. Lewis Hamilton is third ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. On the Ferrari side, Alonso is 8th and Massa 12th. It’s a bit better than this morning, but it’s still not satisfying for the Italian team.

McLaren informs Jenson Button that he might have a slow puncture on the front. Brake problems also for Romain Grosjean who goes straight at turn 1: « Something broke! » he says on the radio. Vettel also encounters some small issues. The German driver reports a strange smell in his Red Bull and returns to the pits.

30 minutes remaining. At this moment, the Top 10 is as follows: Vettel in 1:41.335 ahead of Webber, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Pérez, Button, Alonso, Hülkenberg, and Massa.

The teams preparing for Sunday’s race, the standings will no longer change, so it’s Sebastian Vettel who was the fastest of the afternoon ahead of Mark Webber.

Free Practice 2 Results of the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: