Hamilton faster than Vettel in 2nd practice
World champion Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in the floodlit second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday. Sebastian Vettel was second.
After Vettel achieved a lap record during the first practice in sunny conditions — beating his own mark from 2009 — Hamilton bettered it with 1 minute, 37.877 seconds as nightfall enveloped Yas Marina circuit.
Vettel was .149 seconds behind Hamilton, and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was .303 back in third.
Leading times changed in a brief flurry of activity about one hour into the session.
Weekend sport on TV Today
Football 1.30pm, GO Sports 2, English Premier League, (live) 3pm, GO Sports 4, English Premier League, Bologna-Sampdoria 4pm, GO Sports 2, English Premier League, Manchester U.-Brighton (live) 6pm, GO Sports 4, Italian Serie A, Sassuolo-Hellas Verona (live) 6pm, GO Sports 5, Italian Serie A, Chievo Verona-SPAL (live) 6.15pm, GO Sports 6, English Premier League, Tottenham H.-West Bromwich Albion (live) 6.15pm, GO Sports 7, English Premier League, Newcastle-Watford (delayed) 6.15pm, GO Sports 8, English Premier
Hamilton went fastest, but Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas overtook him. Then, Vettel found some extra speed in his Ferrari to eclipse both before Hamilton regained top spot and held it for the remaining 35 minutes.
Ricciardo soon leapfrogged Bottas, who fell to fifth behind Ferrari veteran Kimi Raikkonen.
There is a third practice on Saturday afternoon before qualifying in the evening, and Vettel is optimistic that he can win Sunday’s race.
Vettel won the last race in Brazil, but Hamilton clinched his fourth Formula One title — and third with Mercedes — in the League, Crystal P.-Stoke C. (delayed) 6.30pm, GO Sports 2, English Premier League, Liverpool-Chelsea (live) 8.45pm, GO Sports 3, Italian Serie A, Cagliari-Inter (live)
Motor-Racing 11am, GO Sports 1, F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – practice 3 (live) 2pm, GO Sports 1, F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – qualifying (live)
Tennis 1.45pm, GO Sports 3, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas – play day 2 (live)
Golf 5.30am, GO Sports 1, PGA European Tour, UBS Hong Kong Open – Day 3 (live) race before and faces little pressure in the season finale. Vettel has won five races this season and 47 in his career. Hamilton has won nine and 62 overall, second only to Michael Schumacher’s 91.
The second session started at 5 p.m. local time with temperatures cooling considerably as a breeze drifted over the desert track. The conditions are likely to be similar for Sunday’s race, which starts at the same time.
P2 was more eventful than P1, with the hard-braking track causing some problems. Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren), Romain Grosjean
Tomorrow
Football 2.30pm, GO Sports 2, English Premier League, Southampton-Everton (live) 3pm, GO Sports 4, Italian Serie A, Udinese-Napoli (live) 3pm, GO Sports 5, Italian Serie A, AC Milan-Torino (live) 3pm, GO Sports 6, Italian Serie A, Genoa-Roma (live) 5pm, GO Sports 2, English Premier League, Huddersfield-Manchester C. (live) 5pm, GO Sports 4, English Premier League, Burnley-Arsenal (delayed) 6pm, GO Sports 1, Italian Serie A, LazioFiorentina (live) 8.45pm, GO Sports 1, Italian Serie A, (Haas), and Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) all spun off. Moments before his spin, Grosjean angered Ricciardo with his driving, prompting a sarcastic comment from Ricciardo.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, meanwhile, complained of steering problems in P1 and rear tire issues in P2, where he was sixth fastest.
Vettel was fastest in P1, .120 seconds faster than Hamilton and .148 quicker than Verstappen.
Hartley was handed a 10-place grid penalty because of extra engine-part changes amid ongoing reliability issues with supplier Renault.
Motor-Racing 1.30pm, GO Sports 1, F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – pre-race programme (live) 2pm, GO Sports 1, F1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – race (live) Tennis 1.25pm, GO Sports 3, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas – play day 3 (live) Rugby 4pm, GO Sports 7, Aviva Premiership, Saracens-Exeter Chiefs (live)
Golf 5am, GO Sports 1, PGA European Tour, UBS Hong Kong Open – Day 4 (live) League Cup final
Tomorrow Motherwell-Celtic
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