Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Lewis Hamilton fastest, another Mercedes one-two

Exceptional fact: no less than eight non-regular drivers are taking part in this first free practice session in Abu Dhabi: Felipe Drugovich temporarily replaces Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, Liam Lawson replaces Max Verstappen at Red Bull, Jack Doohan replaces Fernando Alonso at Alpine, Patricio O’Ward replaces Lando Norris at McLaren, Pietro Fittipaldi replaces Michael Schumacher at Haas, Robert Shwartzman replaces Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, Robert Kubica replaces Zhou at Alfa Romeo, and Logan Sargeant, who is also competing in F2 this weekend and hopes to secure his Super License to secure his seat at Williams, replaces Nicholas Latifi.

SO MANY!#HaasF1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/zcKOvBSMVf

— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) November 18, 2022

All these beautiful people take advantage of the start of the session to launch themselves on a clear track and thus enjoy the sensations of their single-seaters without worrying about traffic. As for the chosen tires, there is a good mix of soft, medium, and hard for each driver, with a slight preference for hard tires at the beginning of the session.

“Pato O’Ward, barely on the track, indicates that something is wrong with his McLaren. The team then tells him to return to the pit.”

Pato unfortunately has an issue so will box this lap.

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 18, 2022

Pérez and Leclerc are fighting to be the fastest.

Sergio Pérez quickly establishes himself as the fastest, with a time of 1:28.926, followed by Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton at the beginning of the session. Logan Sargeant and Pierre Gasly then each take a turn too wide and go beyond the track limits. Later, Daniel Ricciardo will do the same. It’s something that will need to be paid attention to during Saturday’s qualifying session, as there’s a risk of having their times cancelled.

If Charles Leclerc (who has a bit of flow-vis paint on his rear wing, just like Shwartzman) sets a good time and rises to first place after 10 minutes, Pérez overtakes him again, with both drivers playing cat and mouse. His teammate for the day, Liam Lawson, is 0.651 seconds slower than the Mexican. Lawson doesn’t waste time in announcing to Red Bull that something is wrong with the front tires, which have probably overheated. He may have also lost a piece of the wing.

A little later, Sergio Pérez will take a speed bump at full speed, kicking up a lot of dust. Liam Lawson, who is returning to the pit, miscalculates his move and brakes too early in front of the garage. He then asks his team to push him so that he can be properly positioned on his marks.

On the other hand, IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward is back on the track, using medium tires to attempt a lap, after McLaren quickly resolved the issue on his car.

He’s going out again. Send it, @PatricioOWard! 💪#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/hygcMcDbuu

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 18, 2022

A yellow flag caused by Logan Sargeant.

“Jack Doohan is the next rookie to complain about an issue with his car, informing Alpine that his engine is very hot. The French team is not alarmed and responds to him that this is what these sessions are for.”

Shortly before the halfway point of the session, Logan Sargeant locks up his wheels and goes into a long slide. He briefly triggers a yellow flag, but no harm done for the American, who can continue right away. However, his tires have suffered greatly from this impressive skid, so he heads back to the Williams pit.

It should be noted that Alex Albon then sets the fastest lap on soft tires, only 0.013 seconds behind Pérez. A few minutes later, it’s Valtteri Bottas, also on soft tires (like the nine fastest drivers), who is the fastest, 0.185 seconds ahead of the Thai driver. But the Mexican, back on the track, takes priority over him… 0.688 seconds ahead of the Finnish driver. The Red Bull seems far too fast… Until Charles Leclerc proves us wrong, being just 0.079 seconds (barely) faster than Pérez.

Little surprise with 15 minutes left in the session: Lewis Hamilton takes the lead over the rest of the grid with a time of 1:26.633. And then, his teammate George Russell follows closely behind, just 0.220 seconds behind him, confirming the good pace of Mercedes after their one-two finish last week in Brazil. The two Brits will remain the fastest until the end of the session, while Charles Leclerc takes the 3rd position.

It should be noted that all the rookies on the track have completed at least 23 laps, which earns them an additional point on their Super License.

Nice first lap by Lewis on the Softs. He goes P1. George slots into P2. 👊

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 18, 2022

The ranking of Free Practice 1 in Abu Dhabi.