Verstappen returns to head second practice from Russell and Leclerc

Max Verstappen more than made up for missing out on first practice by going quickest by three tenths of a second in the second session at Yas Marina.

The world champion was faster than Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as he took to the track for the first time on Friday. Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Mercedes, ahead of Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz Jnr.

The sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon as the green light appeared at the end of the pit lane to signal the start of the second practice session. After missing the earlier session to lend their cars to other drivers eight regulars – Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi – all returned to their cars for the second hour of practice.

Chalres Leclerc set the initial pace, posting a 1’26.045 on medium tyres, with Esteban Ocon going second quickest, three tenths of a second behind the Ferrari and George Russell a further half second behind the Alpine. Verstappen wasted no time in getting up to speed, running faster than team mate Sergio Perez in fifth after the two Red Bulls completed their first runs on the medium tyres.

After the first 15 minutes, Verstappen became the first driver in the session to fit on a set of soft tyres. He completed a single flying lap, going comfortably quickest by almost six tenths under Leclerc’s previous best time. Not too long after, Leclerc ventured out onto the track with a fresh set of softs, but while he improved on his own personal best time, he was still a quarter of a second slower than Verstappen who had improved his own benchmark to a 1’25.335.

The Mercedes pair of Russell and Hamilton fitted the soft tyres next. Russell moved to second place with a lap a tenth-and-a-half slower than Verstappen, although he was compromised through the final sector by traffic. Team mate Hamilton moved into fourth position almost two tenths of a second behind Leclerc in third.

As the sun set and the track was illuminated by floodlights, teams focused more on high-fuel runs than single-lap pace. However, Verstappen did improve his own fastest time to a 1’25.146, which increased his advantage over Russell at the top of the times to over three tenths.

That was how the session ended, with Verstappen setting the Friday pace despite only running in the second session. Russell and Hamilton were separated by Leclerc in fourth, with Perez in fifth and Sainz sixth fastest in the second Ferrari. The two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were seventh and eighth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo ninth and Valtteri Bottas completing the top ten.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix second practice result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	RB18	1’25.146		25
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W13	1’25.487	0.341	27
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	F1-75	1’25.599	0.453	30
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W13	1’25.761	0.615	22
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	RB18	1’25.852	0.706	26
6	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	F1-75	1’25.932	0.786	31
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A522	1’26.038	0.892	28
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	A522	1’26.043	0.897	29
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL36	1’26.124	0.978	14
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C42	1’26.300	1.154	29
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL36	1’26.377	1.231	28
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR22	1’26.395	1.249	28
13	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C42	1’26.479	1.333	30
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR22	1’26.547	1.401	27
15	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	AT03	1’26.680	1.534	30
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW44	1’26.750	1.604	29
17	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	VF-22	1’26.839	1.693	26
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-22	1’26.915	1.769	25
19	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	AT03	1’27.036	1.890	29
20	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	FW44	1’27.262	2.116	30

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• Norris dissatisfied with solitary podium finish: “One isn’t enough”
• Verstappen achieves most dominant title win since Vettel in 2013
• Magnussen’s experience makes him ‘positive’ ousted Schumacher can return to F1
• Overtaking still difficult at Yas Marina despite 2021 track changes, say drivers
• Depressing to consider points lost says Gasly after AlphaTauri slump to ninth

Browse all 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix articles