The Free practice 1 of the Abu Dhabi GP They don’t allow many conclusions to be drawn and are the perfect setting for young or reserved riders to hit the track. This was the case in the first practice sessions this weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, where there were up to 8 unofficial pilots on the asphalt, among them, the debutants in the two Grand Prix Free Practices: the Mexican pilot in IndyCar, Patrick ‘Duck’ O’Ward (McLaren), and the current one Formula 2 champion, Brazilian Felipe Drugovich (Aston-Martin). In this context, the first session in Abu Dhabi did not have a Spanish presence on the track, as Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) did not start, leaving the wheel of their cars to Robert Shwartzman and Jack Doohan, according to named
Apart from these drivers, Liam Lawson also shot, along with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, Logan Sargeant, in his need to continue adding F1 super license points in another free practice session at Williams in place of Latifi , Pietro Fittipaldi, in place of Mick Schumacher at Haas, and Robert Kubica, for Zhou Guanyu at Alfa Romeo.
Drugovich, Aston Martin’s reserve driver, completed a long run on the hard rubber and was able to push to the end by running on the new soft rubber, finishing in last place, 2.039 behind the best time of the day, the head of Hamilton of the Free 1.
For his part, Pato O’Ward made a long run with the medium rubber, making up to 12 laps on this compound, and ended with another run with a new soft tire, which ran for a while at the start of running on this soft rubber, although hopefully he did it in a car full of gas. The Mexican was therefore able to try two different compounds, something that Alex Palou was not allowed to do in his debut in Free Practice 1 in Austin, as he only had to ride one tire in that session. On the soft rubber, the difference between Daniel Ricciardo and O’Ward was good, just eight tenths. “Thank you everyone. Thank you. I really enjoyed it. It’s been incredible,” O’Ward said at the end of the session.
In the lead, the two Mercedes started the weekend as they left Brazil, with a double in Free Practice 1. Hamilton took the lead with George Russell on 0″220, although the track conditions changed significantly towards Free Practice 2, when Night falls in Abu Dhabi, so the question remains whether Mercedes will keep the bar as high as Brazil’s at this track.
Leclerc was third at 0″255, with ‘Checo’ Pérez in fourth place at 0″334 from the head. The Monegasque and Mexican are playing this weekend for second place in the world, both reaching points (290). That is one of the great incentives of a weekend in which Ferrari wants to finish the defense of its second place in the Constructors against Mercedes and Alpine to do the same with its fourth place in the Constructors against McLaren. Vettel, who retired this weekend, was 6th after an excellent Liam Lawson (Verstappen’s Red Bull) and Shwartzman, in Sainz’s Ferrari, left a good feeling finishing 7th, the result of his better experience in F1 compared to many of the rookies.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
