» Bottas stays on top despite collision with Grosjean

Valtteri Bottas continued to be the benchmark driver at the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix with a clean sweep of Friday’s two practice sessions.

The Finn, comfortably fastest in FP1 despite the knowledge that he will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid due to multiple power unit element changes, topped the timesheets in the the floodlit second practice session. The Mercedes-AMG driver didn’t have his session completely go to plan, however, clumsily colliding with Haas’ Romain Grosjean.

Clear running in FP2 is vital in preparation for Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race which will be held in similar conditions. Bottas was again on the pace and on a cooler track he posted a time of 1:36.256 to edge teammate Lewis Hamilton by over three-tenths of a second.

Opting to run comparison tests on different front wing designs, it was looking to be a productive session for Bottas until he made an uncharacteristically impulsive dive up the inside of Grosjean at Turn 11. Grosjean turned in to the left-hander to take his normal line and chopped across Bottas’ front wing, sending both spinning. The contact damaged the W10’s front wing and left Grosjean – who finished the session ‘best of the rest’ in seventh-fastest – out of the remainder of the session with a damaged floor. The session was briefly red-flagged.

Bottas was later given a reprimand by the FIA Stewards – his first of the season – and he subsequently apologised to the Frenchman. The incident was a bitter blow for Grosjean, who had looked competitive thanks to new aerodynamic upgrades that will not be available for use in qualifying.

Hamilton, targeting a fifth win at Abu Dhabi where Mercedes-AMG has been utterly dominant in recent years, began his FP2 session with a downshift problem that was later solved. The Briton finishes less than one-tenth of a second quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The Monégasque driver almost repeated his teammate Sebastian Vettel’s FP1 crash at the tricky off-camber Turn 19 , brushing the outside barrier in his SF90 but continuing undaunted. He was fastest overall in the first two sectors of the Yas Marina Circuit lap. Vettel finished one-tenth of a second slower and was fourth-fastest.

Again about half a second off Bottas’ ultimate pace, Brazilian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen could only place fifth-quickest in FP2. The Dutch driver finished half a second clear of teammate Alexander Albon, however, with the Anglo-Thai driver completing the top six.

Behind seventh-placed Grosjean, Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez ended his Friday on a positive note with the eighth-fastest time, narrowly ahead of Toro Rosso duo Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly.

Just half a second separated Grosjean and Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg (P15) in a tightly bunched midfield, with the McLarens of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris placing eleventh- and twelfth-fastest respectively, followed by Lance Stroll’s Racing Point and Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

The slowest five runners comprised Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo – back on the circuit with a replacement engine after his high-mileage unit blew in FP1 – and the two Alfa Romeo and Williams pairings.

FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2019 – FREE PRACTICE SESSION 2
	Driver	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport W10	1:36.256		29
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Motorsport W10	1:36.566	+ 0.310	33
3.	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari SF90	1:36.642	+ 0.386	30
4.	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari SF90	1:36.691	+ 0.435	28
5.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing RB15	1:36.807	+ 0.551	30
6.	Alexander Albon	Red Bull Racing RB15	1:37.288	+ 1.032	30
7.	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team VF-19	1:37.601	+ 1.345	17
8.	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point F1 Team RP19	1:37.637	+ 1.381	32
9.	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda STR14	1:37.651	+ 1.395	34
10.	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda STR14	1:37.770	+ 1.514	36
11.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren F1 Team MCL34	1:37.834	+ 1.578	32
12.	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team MCL34	1:37.918	+ 1.662	32
13.	Lance Stroll	Racing Point F1 Team RP19	1:37.985	+ 1.729	32
14.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team VF-19	1:38.080	+ 1.824	31
15.	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault F1 Team RS19	1:38.122	+ 1.866	29
16.	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault F1 Team RS19	1:38.400	+ 2.144	26
17.	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing C38	1:38.415	+ 2.159	30
18.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing C38	1:38.464	+ 2.208	32
19.	George Russell	ROKiT Williams Racing FW42	1:39.512	+ 3.256	32
20.	Robert Kubica	ROKiT Williams Racing FW42	1:40.455	+ 4.199	32