Max Verstappen reaches the top of the timesheets in second practice at Yas Marina

Max Verstappen did not let missing the first free practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend affect him as he went fastest in the second session at the Yas Marina Circuit on Friday evening.

This weekend we have the softest tyres in the Pirelli range available, with the C5 being the red-walled Soft tyres, as was Brazil last weekend. The asphalt in Abu-Dhabi isn’t the most abrasive which warrants Pirelli nominating the softest tyres for the track.

After handing their cars over to reserve drivers in the first practice session in Abu Dhabi, Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen, Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso are among the eight drivers back in having missed FP1 for young drivers. 

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN driver Zhou Guanyu is the first out on the track and was soon followed by Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team‘s Sebastian Vettel, competing in his final FIA Formula 1 World Championship event before retirement, and Sainz.

After fifty minutes of the session, the track was busy with everyone already out on track except the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS Formula One duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – they are sitting pretty in the pits.

Of those who ventured out early, it is Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas who goes P1 on the Hard tyres, until Charles Leclerc moved to the top himself there on Mediums, which achieved the Monégasque a lap time of 1:26.045s, just as McLaren F1 Team driver Daniel Ricciardo nearly lost his MCL36 through the sweepers of Sector 1.

The second stint saw Hamilton return to the pits as Mercedes continue to fettle the W13, but last week’s winner, Russell popped himself up to third on a first flying lap, although he is still slower 0.807s slower than Leclerc’s benchmark, on the same Medium tyres.

After a while in the pits, Hamilton emerged back out onto the circuit and quickly slid into the seventh position, clocking in 0.6s down through sector 2, going seventh quickest, 0.746s down on Leclerc.

However, Verstappen then demolishes Leclerc’s time with a set of new soft tyres – with a 1:25.449s time – nearly six tenths up, but immediately after, reports brake pedal troubles which alerted the Red Bull garage to certain obstacles they’d hope to avoid.

Further down the grid, Russell was on a good lap but lost a lot of time in Sector 3 navigating a car park through the hotel section, but he still managed to maintain the second position behind the current World Champion.

With three minutes of the second practice session remaining, the drivers have fallen into a race simulation slipstream that pips Verstappen at the top of the grid, followed by Russell, Leclerc, Hamilton, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, Sainz, BWT Alpine F1 Team duo Esteban Ocon and Alonso, Ricciardo and Bottas.

Lando Norris, who sat out the first session as McLaren gave Pato O’Ward his first taste of an official Formula 1 season, was eleventh ahead of the retiring Vettel, Zhou, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Alexander Albon couldn’t match his top ten position from the opening session and ended only sixteenth ahead of Haas F1 Team duo, Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Williams Racing‘s Nicolas Latifi rounded out the field.