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FP2: Hamilton quickest in second practice

Published on 24 Nov 2017 15:31
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By: Sam Gale

World champion Lewis Hamilton set the pace under the floodlights in Abu Dhabi as he looks to end his season on a high after missing the podium in the last two races. Hamilton has never won a race after wrapping up a world title and will be looking to end that record at a track where he has had great success in the past.

Winner of the last round in Brazil, Sebastian Vettel, was second in practice, maintaining his good pace that he showed in the first practice session where he topped the time sheets. The Red Bulls also seem to have a chance of victory on Sunday, with Daniel Ricciardo improving on his underwhelming performance from FP1 to go third and only three tenths from Lewis Hamilton.

The rest of the usual top six cars all filled out their usual spots with Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, with all of them looking to improve going into qualifying and the race to get closer to the likes of Lewis Hamilton and challenging for the win.

The two Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon continued their trend of being best of the midfield pack in seventh and eighth and after securing their joint best ever position in the constructors championship and best ever points tally, the pressure is rather off the team this weekend.

The pressure is on for Nico Hulkenberg however and the Renault team in the battle for sixth place in the constructors and ninth place in the time sheets is an encouraging sign for the team, who need five points to overhaul Toro Rosso in the championship, whilst defending from Haas who are two points behind the team.

The McLaren's of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne continued their impressive pace from first practice in tenth and twelfth respectively and will be looking to end the miserable McLaren Honda era on a high and in the points. The Williams of Felipe Massa split the Mclaren's and will be looking for a good end to his F1 career, whilst teammate Stroll will be looking to stake a claim to team leader going into next season.

The other cars in the battle for sixth place in the constructors all populated the lower end of the field, with both Toro Rosso's both Haas' and Carlos Sainz all lower than they would have hoped to be, populating five of the last eight spots on the time sheet.

Toro Rosso will be hoping to end the season as quickly as possible after only scoring one point in the last five races, although should be more competitive on Saturday and Sunday after Gasly didnt set a representative time on the ultra soft tyres, but still managed 15th in the session beating both Haas cars.

The Sauber's of Ericsson and Wehrlein will be driving for their careers this weekend, as the two seats are two of only three seats left available for next season along with the second Williams seat, will be looking to impress this weekend, regardless of the competitiveness of the car, which could only allow 17th and 18th for the two drivers.

Sam Gale