Max Verstappen led the two Red Bull drivers in first practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but was frustrated again by a suspected engine braking problem on his car.
Engine braking has frustrated Verstappen repeatedly this season, notably in Mexico, where he blamed it after losing pole position to team mate Daniel Ricciardo.Verstappen reported he had “a lot of rear locking just from the engine braking” early in the session but was told “we’re not entirely sure that it’s the engine braking that’s causing the issue.” “I’m pretty sure it’s that,” he replied. “The engine is still doing that same thing so it makes me just drift into the corner,” he added later in the session.
Nevertheless Verstappen set a best time of 1’38.491 which put him almost a full second quicker than any non-Red Bull driver. Ricciardo was second, just under half a second slower. Both drivers used the hyper-soft tyres.
The Mercedes pair were next, Valtteri Bottas leading Lewis Hamilton. The latter, who is unusually running both his regular number 44 and the number one on his car this weekend, reported his car felt “unhappy” around the Yas Marina circuit.
Esteban Ocon was a surprising fifth as the Ferrari drivers concentrated on aerodynamic work and switched to the super-soft tyres for the second half of the session. Kevin Magnussen also demoted the red cars to seventh and eighth.
Carlos Sainz Jnr was ninth-fastest for Renault while Romain Grosjean completed the top 10. The former had a brief spin at turn 19 near the end of the session.
Test drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica stood in for Charles Leclerc and Sergey Sirotkin respectively. Leclerc’s team mate Ericsson lost time when he spun into a barrier and broke his front wing early in the session.
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| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’38.491 | 27 | |
| 2 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’38.945 | 0.454 | 19 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’39.452 | 0.961 | 29 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’39.543 | 1.052 | 26 |
| 5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’40.102 | 1.611 | 26 |
| 6 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’40.235 | 1.744 | 21 |
| 7 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’40.417 | 1.926 | 24 |
| 8 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’40.453 | 1.962 | 21 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’40.588 | 2.097 | 21 |
| 10 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’40.663 | 2.172 | 24 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’40.671 | 2.180 | 17 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’41.023 | 2.532 | 24 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’41.075 | 2.584 | 23 |
| 14 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’41.137 | 2.646 | 26 |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’41.493 | 3.002 | 22 |
| 16 | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’41.662 | 3.171 | 24 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’41.928 | 3.437 | 22 |
| 18 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1’42.114 | 3.623 | 22 |
| 19 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1’42.313 | 3.822 | 16 |
| 20 | 40 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’42.992 | 4.501 | 26 |
First practice visual gaps
Max Verstappen – 1’38.491
+0.454 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’38.945
+0.961 Valtteri Bottas – 1’39.452
+1.052 Lewis Hamilton – 1’39.543
+1.611 Esteban Ocon – 1’40.102
+1.744 Kevin Magnussen – 1’40.235
+1.926 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’40.417
+1.962 Sebastian Vettel – 1’40.453
+2.097 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’40.588
+2.172 Romain Grosjean – 1’40.663
+2.180 Pierre Gasly – 1’40.671
+2.532 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’41.023
+2.584 Sergio Perez – 1’41.075
+2.646 Brendon Hartley – 1’41.137
+3.002 Lance Stroll – 1’41.493
+3.171 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’41.662
+3.437 Marcus Ericsson – 1’41.928
+3.623 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’42.114
+3.822 Fernando Alonso – 1’42.313
+4.501 Robert Kubica – 1’42.992
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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Markos
23rd November 2018, 10:53
I read elsewhere Danny said this track was supposed to be better for RB than Brasil. Look likes he is right side far.
Markos
23rd November 2018, 10:54
* right side far.
Markos
23rd November 2018, 10:54
**right so far
Damn you autocorrect!
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
23rd November 2018, 10:56
Sergio Sirotkin or Sergey Perez?
GongTong (@gongtong)
23rd November 2018, 10:57
“Test drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica stood in for Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez respectively”
Is this an error, or an I missing something?
Arnoud van Houwelingen (@arnoudvanhouwelingen)
23rd November 2018, 11:11
Kubica stond in for Sirotkin GongTong!
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd November 2018, 11:17
Over two seconds off the pace of last season’s pole time, but oh well, it should get beaten by Q3 at the very latest.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd November 2018, 11:53
Remember it’s warmer on FP1 here because the sun’s still up, unlike qualy when it’s dark and cool. It’s probably the most meaningless session of the year, alongside FP1 in Singapore
terro (@terro)
23rd November 2018, 11:34
the bulls used the hypers, i’m curious what kind of tire merc used? anyone know?
Ahmad Albashrawi (@abashrawi)
23rd November 2018, 11:41
@terro Bottas was in SS I think.
Nitzo (@webtel)
23rd November 2018, 11:57
It doesn’t matter. FP1 and FP3 are barely indicative of the lap times we see in Quali or the race.
The insignificance is amplified in circuits that are long.
FP2 is so important. Lets see who stands where at the end of the day.
erikje
23rd November 2018, 12:59
Hamilton on hypersoft his fastest time.
(with the repaired engine)
Ronald (@mosquito)
23rd November 2018, 11:43
also hypers @Terro, but I’m not sure the Merc drove with the Hypers around the same time Verstappen did his fastest time.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
23rd November 2018, 11:52
In the daytime, first session, different tyres, no Q2/3 boost: utterly meaningless.
Sergey Martyn
23rd November 2018, 12:38
Strange but none of the folks who were ecxited that much about KUB return commented on his 4.5 sec lag which looks very promising for Williams. This is not a sim.
erikje
23rd November 2018, 13:00
1,5 sec behind Stroll.. not sure if that’s something to be proud off.
Pingo
23rd November 2018, 15:21
It was said by Williams that they were trying settings and not even going for a time.
Regardless its not actually a bad time considering hes not even been in the car for months!
The team would have had tons of comparison data from the sim alone to backup why they hired him for next year.
San
23rd November 2018, 15:29
It’s a different car. 2019 parts on it.
keracure (@keracure)
23rd November 2018, 14:42
Let’s talk about his performance in 12 months time ..