#AbuDhabiGP FP1 Report: @Max33Verstappen tops time-sheets. #F1

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen pipped Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas to top the time-sheets in FP1 at the Abu Dhabi GP by a narrow 0.034 secondsas the latter’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton returned to action.

The Briton was forced to miss last weekend’s penultimate round, the Sakhir Grand Prix due to testing positive for coronavirus one day after scoring victory at the Bahrain GP.

The seven-time World Champion returned to pilot his F1 W11 EQ Power+ racer in opening practice at the Yas Marina Circuit on early Friday afternoon after having two negative test results, and passing the requirements to make his comeback.

But it was Verstappen who lead practice during the day ahead of Hamilton’s team-mate Bottas at the top of the time-sheets.

Bottas set the benchmark for the Black Arrows on the softer compounds, only until Verstappen made significant gains when he swapped tyres, claiming P1 just before the session hit one hour.

Verstappen’s effort of a 1:37.378 was enough for the Dutchman to clinch top spot by a whisker of 0.034 seconds from Bottas, who focused his practice program on the harder rubber for the session’s majority.

After scoring his maiden Formula 1 podium last time out, Renault’s Esteban Ocon continued showing promising form taking third and 1.137 seconds off of Verstappen’s Abu Dhabi GP benchmark time.

Ocon was the sole Renault driver in the session after team-mate Daniel Ricciardo stopped on circuit due to a fuel-pressure issue on only his fourth tour.

The other Red Bull of Alexander Albon was fourth quickest on the time-sheets as he struggled to match his practice-topping team-mate’s pace, along with taking a spin at the turn 12/13 chicane.

Hamilton completed 20 laps in his F1 W11 EQ Power+ racer en route to fifth, posting his best effort on the C3 harder tyre. The Briton lost some track time earlier in the session due to a brake pressure problem, but was easily fixed for him to continue.

BWT Racing Point F1 Team’s Lance Stroll and Sakhir GP winner Sergio Perez were sixth and seventh respectively, in-front of AlphaTauri pairing Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly who occupied the next two positions, whilst Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top ten.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz was 11th in his final outing for the Woking-based outfit, two places ahead of team-mate Lando Norris with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc splitting the pairing in 12th.

Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel, competing in his final weekend for Ferrari before moving to Aston Martin Racing for 2021 was 14th fastest after the German’s best effort was invalidated for exceeding track limits.

Robert Kubica subbed for Antonio Giovinazzi in the Alfa Romeo C39 as part of his programme for the Hinwil-based squad. Taking 15th place as he got more laps in before the upcoming end-of-season-test.

George Russell made his return to Williams Racing after a one-race-stint with Mercedes in-place for Hamilton, and ended opening practice in 16th, beating team-mate Nicholas Latifi who was 17th.

Newly-crowned F2 Champion Mick Schumacher in his Grand Prix weekend debut for Haas F1 Team saw him finish 18th on the time-sheets, continuing on his preparations for his full-time driver with the Kannapolis-Banbury outfit while team-mate Pietro Fittipaldi took 19th place with the aforementioned Ricciardo bringing up the rear.

You can read the full Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1061/abu-dhabi/practice-1.html

#Formula1 Etihad Airways #AbuDhabiGP 2020 Preview. #F1