It’s a neck-and-neck battle as the season goes down to the wire.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—In preparation for Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, Lewis Hamilton had the best time of the day, a 1:23:691 pace, which put him ahead of the surprising Esteban Ocon in his Alpine. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was third in his last race before moving from Mercedes to Alfa Romeo.
Formula One’s final practice session ended in a disappointing way for Kimi Raikkonen, who was competing in his final race weekend. The Finn crashed into the barriers at turn 14. But the good news is that Raikkonen was unhurt. The incident shortened the session, which assured that Hamilton would have the best time.
Leading up to the Raikkonen accident, there were no major incidents. However, Nicholas Latifi spun his Williams at Turn 13 early in the evening session and had to return to the pits for a rear wing change. Bottas flat-spotted his tires as he approached turn eight and had to return for additional rubber.
In comparison to his championship rival, Max Verstappen, Hamilton was three places ahead going into tomorrow’s Free Practice 3 (5a Eastern time, ESPN2) and the evening’s qualifying session (8a Eastern time, ESPN2). Hamilton is six-tenths of a second ahead of the Dutchman, who placed fourth in Free Practice 2, after taking first in Friday’s Free Practice 1.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was fifth, and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso took sixth. Yuki Tsunoda, who has improved in the last few races was, placed his Alpha Tauri in seventh. Ferrari followed in a manner consistent with what it has been doing all year–with both drivers close to one another. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. took eighth and ninth, respectively, while the second Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten.
The race will be televised Sunday morning on ESPN2 beginning at 8a Eastern.
