Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg each crashed in an eventful Friday second practice session on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The session was shortened to twenty minutes following a close to half-hour delay brought on by repairs to limitations broken by Sainz in a heavy crash at Turn Three.
Hulkenberg’s off at Turn One then instantly price one other seven minutes.
Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc set the tempo, simply 0.043 seconds forward of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third quickest, 0.173secs off the tempo, complaining at one level that his automobile was “bouncing like a kangaroo” within the closing sector of the lap across the marina.
Mercedes driver George Russell was sixth quickest, behind the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton within the second Mercedes was eighth quickest, 0.193secs behind his team-mate.
The truncated session meant groups and drivers had little or no time to arrange their vehicles and none managed to do the same old race-simulation runs, so there was little indication as to potential type for the weekend.
Sainz misplaced management of his Ferrari after simply eight minutes of working. His automobile hit a bump as it went by means of one of many quickest corners of the observe. This seemingly triggered a lack of downforce and due to this fact the driving force to lose management.
He was following an Alpha Tauri automobile on the time, and Sainz reported to his group over the radio: “Dirty air from the automobile gave me a large snap. Dirty air and the bump, I feel.”
In the primary session, a lot of the junior drivers who have been utilized by 9 of the ten groups as a part of their necessary “younger driver” working had wild moments over the identical bump, with out really shedding management.
Sainz was unharmed within the accident however the limitations have been extensively broken and there have been simply 25 minutes of the session remaining when it was restarted.
But simply two minutes later there was one other crimson flag after Hulkenberg ran extensive on the exit of Turn One, put his proper rear wheel on the bogus grass outdoors the kerb and spun.
The automobile rotated again throughout the observe and its rear nook smashed into the limitations, inflicting the session to be stopped once more, for seven minutes this time whereas the broken Haas was eliminated.
That meant a busy closing quarter-hour, which began with Verstappen barging his well beyond each Mercedes drivers as the vehicles left the pits, and accusing them of “blocking him”.
The lack of working will make the groups’ work in a single day harder than regular as they head right into a race weekend during which a lot of championship positions are nonetheless contested.
Key amongst them, Ferrari are simply 4 factors behind Mercedes of their battle for second place within the constructors’ championship behind Red Bull.
Both groups are eager to safe the place, not least for the additional $10m or so of prize cash but in addition as a morale increase after tough seasons.
Ferrari have the momentum after a stronger second a part of the season following a sequence of upgrades which have improved their tough automobile.
There can also be some uncertainty over fourth place, with McLaren 11 factors forward of Aston Martin.
At the again, the underside 4 groups – Williams, Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo and Haas – are coated by simply 16 factors.
Meanwhile, within the drivers’ championship, Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso are tied on 200 factors in fourth and fifth locations, simply 5 factors forward of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who’s himself simply seven forward of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
