F1 to unveil new logo in Abu Dhabi
Abudhabi:lewishamiltonreeled off a track record lap as he topped the timesformercedesaheadofsebastian Vettel’s Ferrari in Friday’s twilight second free practice for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The newly-crowned four-time world champion Hamilton clocked a best lap of one minute and 37.877 seconds to outpace German Vettel, also a four-time champion, by one-tenth of a second in a session that began in sunlight and finished after dark.
Vettel was .149 seconds behind Hamilton, and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was .303 back in third.
“It’s relatively close still, I like that,” Hamilton said. “It’s been a good Friday, but I’m happy that it’s the last one of the season.”
Leading times changed in a brief flurry of activity about one hour into the session.
Hamilton went fastest, but Mercedes team-mate 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.
“The car was good. The balance was good straight away. It will be very close,” the German driver said. “If we can do the usual step to Saturday and improve the car a little bit, then it should be a good day.”
Vettel won the last race in Brazil, but Hamilton clinched his fourth Formula One title - and third with Mercedes - in the 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.
“It is important to finish the season on a high,” Vettel said. “The better the result, the better the mood.”
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.
“The temperatures here are OK,” Bottas said. “It’s definitely warm in the cockpit, but we’ve been to worse places.”
P2 was more eventful than P1, with the hard-braking track causing some problems.
Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne (Mclaren), Romain Grosjean (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.
Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa, preparing for his last Formula One race with Williams, was 11th fastest.
The tight battle for sixth place in the constructors’ championship between Toro Rosso, Renault and Haas — with just six points separating the three teams — is another focus for the weekend.
FOURTH PENALTY FOR HARTLEY
New Zealander Brendon Hartley will start his fourth race in Formula One with a fourth grid penalty after his Toro Rosso team replaced part of his car’s Renault power unit for Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 28-year-old double world endurance champion and Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar winner made his F1 debut with a 25 place penalty at the US Grand Prix in October.
Hartley was then handed a 20 place demotion in Mexico and another penalty in Brazil as the Red Bull-owned team wrestled with engine reliability.
Formulaonewillunveilanewlogo after Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as the sport moves on under new Us-based owners Liberty Media.
Without giving details of the replacement design, chairman Chase Carey told Britain’s Sky Sports television on Friday that the revamp would “provide a fresh energy” to a sport whose championship dates back to 1950. The current logo was introduced in 1987 when former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, now 87, was in charge.
“Any time you change you are always going to have a mixed set of views,” said Carey, when asked about the likely fan reaction. “We have a lot of plans for the future and a lot of things we want to do and we thought the logo was a good way to emphasise the excitement, a fresh energy and a new day,” he added.
“That’s respecting completely what the sport’s been. We’re not looking to change the sport. We’re looking to provide a fresh innovation and energy to a great sport that we think we can enhance in a number of ways.”
F1 may also bid farewell to the Sauber drivers Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson, tipped to be replaced next year, and to the Mclaren-honda partnership.
Mclaren are to be powered by Renault next season while Honda will supply Toro Rosso.
The final race of 2017 may also prove the final event with fully open cockpits on the cars before next year’s planned introduction of a ‘halo’ closed cockpit protection system.
The idea behind introducing ‘halo’ is to prevent flying debris hitting the drivers.
Meanwhile, double world champion Fernando Alonso has become the first Formula One driver to launch his own esport virtual racing team.
The 36-year-old, who drives for Mclaren, presented the FA Racing G2 Logitech G team at the seasonending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Thursday.