Leclerc Brings the Energy in FP2, Sainz Crashes

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was the leader on day one of practice in Abu Dhabi. Leclerc led Lando Norris and Max Verstappen by just under 2 tenths. The beginning of the session was cut short after Carlos Sainz crashed into the barrier. The incident took about 25 minutes to clear before the session resumed. After the break most of the drivers opted for soft tires to run pre FP3 qualifying pace sessions. However, a second red flag stopped the session again delaying it further ultimately making the session worthless for qualifying pace. With 16 minutes left in the session the drivers would return to the track.

Valtteri Bottas in the Top 5

Valtteri Bottas set a flyer to finish in the top 5 in the session. Bottas had the following words after the session, “It is definitely quite nice to finish both sessions in P4, although it’s quite difficult to say where we really stand at the end of today. We had a couple of unusual sessions today: the first one featuring several rookie drivers, and the second one affected by two red flags in a row – therefore not allowing everyone to get good laps in.

Still, we went through the full program for the day, and the feeling in the car is pretty good, which is promising for the days ahead. Of course, there is still a long way to go, and we need to be at our best for Qualifying and for Sunday’s race as well. Our target for Saturday remains Q3, and if we do our homework right overnight, we have a solid chance of achieving that tomorrow.”

FP3 kicks off tomorrow morning.

Full FP2 Results