Max third after Abu Dhabi Friday practice: 'OK day, no crazy stuff'

Published on 11 December 2020 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished Friday practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in third place. The Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were quickest around the Yas Marina Circuit.

“It was OK, no crazy stuff”, said after FP2. “We’ll have some work to do to catch up to the Mercedes. They look strong, despite I didn’t set a lap on the soft tyre.”

The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver concluded: “I had a couple of lap times deleted because of the track limits in the final corner, but it’s only Friday. You know you can’t do that during qualifying so you pay more attention then. Today was really about finding the limit and see how far you can go with the car. On the soft tyre it went quite well today, but it’s a shame I came up behind Sergio on one of his long runs.”

For FP2, the teams are required to complete eight timed laps on the new 2021-spec Pirelli prototype tyres. Most of the teams opt to do these laps at the start of the session, with Mercedes doing so near the end.

As drivers lapping on different tyre specs, the lap times in the first half an hour are not a good indication of the pecking order. However, once most drivers switch to the regular 2020 tyres, it becomes apparent that Mercedes are once again the benchmark.

At the halfway mark, most drivers opt for qualifying simulations with Hamilton and Bottas setting the pace. The latter eventually outpaces the reigning champ.

Meanwhile, Max tries his best on a set of softs. On his first run, the Dutchman is held up by traffic, whilst in his second attempt he exceeds track limits; his subsequent lap time is deleted.

With thirty minutes to go, Mercedes are back running the 2021-spec prototype Pirellis, as they had not completed the required eight timed laps previously.

In the final fifteen minutes, there are a couple of drivers with technical issues. First, George Russell returns to the pits with a smoking Williams, followed by a red flag caused by Kimi Raikkonen’s burning Alfa Romeo. The Fin has to abandon his car at turn seven, prompting the session to be stopped.

With six minutes left on the clock, the session resumes without any lap time improvements. World Champion Lewis Hamilton grinds to a halt in the pits. The Mercedes drivers is unable to select gears, but is eventually able to complete a few laps at the very end of FP2.

Contest Abu Dhabi GP: win a by Max signed cap or a 1:43 scale model!

Results second free practice Abu-dhabi: