Hamilton ahead as title deciding weekend kicks off

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuitae

Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable start to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend as he proved the fastest man in the first practice session, and 4 tenths quicker than team mate and Championship rival Nico Rosberg. The Red Bull duo were once again the closest competitors.

While Red Bull were fairly close to Mercedes' pace, Ferrari wasn't, even though Sebastian Vettel was still 5th fastest in the morning session. He was nonetheless more than a second down on the pace setter, and a tenth ahead of Sergio Perez.

Kimi Raikkonen slotted into 7th in the second Ferrari, followed by Carlos Sainz, Felipe Massa and Marcus Ericsson.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:42.869-28
26Nico RosbergMercedes1:43.243+0.374s31
333Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:43.297+0.428s26
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:43.362+0.493s27
55Sebastian VettelFerrari1:44.005+1.136s27
611Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:44.155+1.286s23
77Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:44.556+1.687s27
855Carlos SainzToro Rosso Ferrari1:44.685+1.816s21
919Felipe MassaWilliams Mercedes1:45.039+2.170s27
109Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:45.168+2.299s20
1134Alfonso CelisForce India Mercedes1:45.476+2.607s26
128Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:45.600+2.731s13
1312Felipe NasrSauber Ferrari1:45.778+2.909s17
1421Esteban GutierrezHaas Ferrari1:45.925+3.056s20
1577Valtteri BottasWilliams Mercedes1:45.940+3.071s31
1630Jolyon PalmerRenault1:46.219+3.350s33
1720Kevin MagnussenRenault1:46.372+3.503s21
1814Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Honda1:46.379+3.510s21
1994Pascal WehrleinMrt Mercedes1:46.458+3.589s29
2022Jenson ButtonMcLaren Honda1:47.127+4.258s10
2142Jordan KingMrt Mercedes1:47.558+4.689s27
2226Daniil KvyatToro Rosso Ferrari2:01.989+19.120s4