Just a few days after securing their first win in 2022, Mercedes continued to dominate proceedings by topping the opening practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton edging George Russell on the Yas Marina circuit.
With the present season approaching its conclusion, a number of outfits nonetheless wanted to offer their junior drivers the chance of driving in the opening practice as per the brand new regulation for 2022 that obliges groups to mandate ‘younger’ drivers in FP1s twice a 12 months.
The session came about in scorching situations in which Lewis Hamilton headed a Mercedes 1-2, setting a benchmark of a 1m26.633s on Pirelli’s tender compound and beating his teammate George Russell by simply over two tenths of a second.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended the session third quickest whereas the Italian outfit’s junior Robert Swartzman was seventh-quickest as he deputised for Carlos Sainz.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez set his benchmark of 1m26.967s fairly early in the session along with his effort placing the Mexican driver in P4. The Milton Keynes primarily based squad gave F2 race winner Liam Lawson a run in Max Verstappen’s title-winning automotive with the New Zealander ending up straight behind Perez in P5.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo completed in P8 because of a late flying lap on the red-walled compound. McLaren’s Lando Norris handed his automotive over to IndyCar star Pato O’Ward, who made his F1 race weekend debut following a number of checks with the group earlier in the 12 months. The Mexican driver had some points firstly of the session, however he was in a position to roll out once more for a run to set the 18th quickest lap time.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas managed a P9 in the opening practice. His group mate Zhou Guanyu was pressured to take a seat out the session as his automotive was piloted by Robert Kubica, who completed the session in P14.
Sebastian Vettel, who began his farewell F1 weekend, set the sixth finest lap time. In the opposite Aston Martin automotive was reigning F2 champion Felipe Drugovich, who ended the session in P20, however he may very well be glad along with his debut session as he managed to log in 23 laps.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:26.633 | 21 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:26.853 | +0.220s | 29 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:26.888 | +0.255s | 22 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Rbpt | 1:26.967 | +0.334s | 22 |
| 5 | 36 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull Racing Rbpt | 1:27.201 | +0.568s | 22 |
| 6 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:27.268 | +0.635s | 19 |
| 7 | 39 | Robert Shwartzman | Ferrari | 1:27.429 | +0.796s | 23 |
| 8 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:27.619 | +0.986s | 20 |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:27.655 | +1.022s | 22 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:27.840 | +1.207s | 25 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alphatauri Rbpt | 1:27.845 | +1.212s | 27 |
| 12 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:27.891 | +1.258s | 27 |
| 13 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Alphatauri Rbpt | 1:27.991 | +1.358s | 27 |
| 14 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:28.064 | +1.431s | 22 |
| 15 | 45 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 1:28.098 | +1.465s | 23 |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:28.142 | +1.509s | 19 |
| 17 | 51 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Haas Ferrari | 1:28.204 | +1.571s | 25 |
| 18 | 28 | Patricio O’Ward | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:28.350 | +1.717s | 22 |
| 19 | 82 | Jack Doohan | Alpine Renault | 1:28.484 | +1.851s | 24 |
| 20 | 34 | Felipe Drugovich | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:28.672 | +2.039s | 23 |
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