Abu Dhabi – Free Practice 1: Bottas leads with his new engine, Vettel in the wall

These are perfect weather conditions offered by the Yas Marina track. With 26 degrees in the air and 37 on the track, the drivers were able to ensure productive stints on soft and medium tires during the first free practice session.

After the change of power unit following his retirement at the Brazilian GP, Valtteri Bottas will be penalized on the grid on Saturday. This didn’t prevent him from securing the fastest time of the session with 1:36.657.

If the Finn was satisfied, it was not the case for Lewis Hamilton. The world champion, usually not opting for the number 1 for his champion car, agreed to momentarily deviate from this habit. Despite improving times throughout the session on soft and medium tires, Hamilton complained about the lack of power from his engine and made a pit stop to check his power unit.

Ferraris were the first to set a time this weekend, before the arrival of Bottas. Neither of the Scuderia’s drivers managed to challenge the dominance of Mercedes and Red Bull.

Wishing to take advantage of these Free Practice 1 sessions to improve the aerodynamic package and aim for an honorable performance in this Grand Prix, Renault experienced a setback with an engine explosion on Daniel Ricciardo’s car at the penultimate corner. His car immobilized, he caused the first red flag of the session. Unlucky, Gasly, who was behind Ricciardo, got sprayed with oil. Renault specified that the engine was old and was going to be changed the next day anyway. Therefore, Ricciardo will not incur any grid penalty on Sunday.

On a slippery track in several corners following the Renault engine failure, the last part of the session was not very productive.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Daniel Ricciardo pulls over with an oil leak, and the session is stopped#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/17f9Q9VGK2

— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 novembre 2019

While the session was calmly heading towards its end, Vettel made a mistake upon re-accelerating out of turn 19, hitting the safety barrier and causing damage to the rear of his car.

That was NOT a good end to FP1 for Sebastian Vettel#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/7omwhyvwpe

— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 novembre 2019

At the bottom of the table, for once, Robert Kubica managed to position himself ahead of his teammate George Russell. Some unofficial information suggests a physical unfitness of the driver who almost did not participate in this session.