Lewis Hamilton sets pace in FP1 of 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has set the best time in the first free Friday practice session of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix held at Yas Marina Circuit.
Hamilton topped the timesheets in the opening session with his best time of 1 minute and 43.285 seconds. Moreover, he was followed by his teammate, Jenson Button who set the second fastest time of 1 minute and 43.618 seconds.
The British driver remained ahead of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing who is currently leading the drivers’ championship with 240 points. The veteran German driver was followed by his major rival, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari who seemed quite comfortable
behind the wheel of his car.
Alonso stayed ahead of Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber who was further followed by Michael Schumacher of Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion was followed by Pastor Maldonado of Williams who faced a little bit difficulty with his car’s handling.
Besides, the Venezuelan driver stayed ahead of Schumacher’s teammate, Nico Rosberg who was followed by Williams’ reserve driver, Valtteri Bottas.
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen could only set the 10th quickest time and was followed by Felipe Massa of Ferrari.
The Brazilian driver remained ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Force India who was further followed by Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber.
Raikkonen’s teammate, Romain Grosjean came 14th in the timesheets and was followed by Force India test driver, Jules Bianchi.
Sergio Perez of the Hinwil based team came 16th in the charts and remained ahead of Toro Rosso pair of drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
Vergne stayed ahead of Heikki Kovalainen of Caterham who was further followed by Timo Glock of Marussia.
Additionally, Pedro de la Rosa of HRT came 21st in the timesheets and stood ahead of Marussia test driver, Max Chilton who was followed by HRT reserve driver, Ma Qing Hua.
All the contenders remained busy in collecting the essential information about their update packages during the FP1 and now they are making the significant preparations for the second session.
It will be very interesting to see how the teams show up in the second free practice session in Abu Dhabi.
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