Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Lewis Hamilton counterattacks! Räikkönen destroys his Alfa Romeo

The first 20 minutes

The drivers were back on track on the Yas Marina circuit, just as the sun was starting to set. It should be noted that George Russell was reclaiming his seat, which was loaned to Jack Aitken, the reserve driver for the Williams team, this morning.

While they had practiced with soft tires this morning, the drivers immediately used the medium tires brought by Pirelli.

The first warning of the session was attributed to Valtteri Bottas, the Finnish driver who slightly hit the wall at the exit of turn 14. He was quickly followed by Nicholas Latifi, but with much more consequences on his rear wing.

Valtteri Bottas kisses the wall at Turn 14

He’s not the first to be caught out there, keep your 👀 on that one throughout the weekend#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/usdHEteZUi

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2021

The first thunderous blow came from Mercedes number 44, clocking a time of 1:24.126! On equivalent tires, Lewis Hamilton had at that moment in the session pushed Max Verstappen over nine tenths behind! After 20 minutes of running, Lewis Hamilton was therefore leading the time chart, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo on soft tires.

At mid-session.

Accustomed to running with slightly less fuel than other cars, the Alpine placed 1st and 5th with 28 minutes remaining in the session, a promising performance for the French cars.

Note that Kimi Räikkönen seemed eager to retire.

Keep up with Kimi! 🚀#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/3j3NQqLCKG

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2021

Meanwhile, the drivers had switched back to soft tires (red), with Lewis Hamilton leading the way (1:23.991) followed by Esteban Ocon (+0.343), Valtteri Bottas (+0.392), and Max Verstappen (+0.641).

The last 20 minutes.

At the end of the session, the drivers worked on doing relay simulations in preparation for next Sunday’s race.

During this session, Mercedes demonstrated its speed in every sector:

Mercedes are setting the pace 🚀

Lewis Hamilton currently leads the way, Max Verstappen is in P4#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/u7AY1597w5

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2021

At the very end of the session, Kimi Räikkönen went and wrecked his car in turn 14, after a medium-speed collision.

Kimi Räikkönen spins and hits the wall at Turn 14

Thankfully he is able to get out of his car#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/TNQr9M80xh

— Formula 1 (@F1) December 10, 2021

Time ranking