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2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: FP1 Report - Valtteri Bottas goes fastest at Yas Marina

29 November 2019 at 10:30
Last update 29 November 2019 at 10:55
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  • Bobby Vincent

Valtteri Bottas topped FP1 with a 1:36.957, from Max Verstappen and the Finn's Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Bottas was half a second ahead of Verstappen, who was the closest man to him. Daniel Ricciardo had an oil leak - causing a mini explosion - which brought out the red flag for part of the session. Sebastian Vettel made a mistake at the end and hit the barriers right at the end of the session.

How it Happened

The two Ferrari drivers were the first out at Yas Marina, with Charles Leclerc going quickest very early on with the first proper time. Vettel, who celebrated the birth of his third child just 24 hours before, arrived late to Abu Dhabi, but he was on the track early, after catching up with his team's briefings.

Bottas then moved top with a sub-1:40 lap time and kept improving on his quickest time, with his brand-new power unit, that will mean he starts from the foot of the grid in Sunday's race. It took a while for Hamilton to get out on track, but when he did, he went just half a second behind his Mercedes colleague in P2. Much like he did in Abu Dhabi practice sessions last season, Hamilton was rocking the #1 car instead of his usual #44. 

Hamilton had to "limp home" as he reported problems with his W10. There weren't any evident problems with the car, and the engineers were more than happy for the six-time world champion to get back to the pits normally, instead of being in "limp home" mode. Bottas, with his new power unit, was actually running the newer engine to his team-mate in the final race weekend of the season.

We had some drama with just 30 minutes to go. Ricciardo's Renault all of the sudden spat flames out the back, whilst on a hot lap, with a suspected oil leak for the Aussie driver. The session was red flagged as Ricciardo pulled over.

Vettel then hit the barriers at the end at Turn 19, causing another red flag and that was the end of the session. Vettel's car looks okay, but it's far from an ideal way to end a pretty underwhelming session for Ferrari.