Grosjean tops first session at Abu Dhabi

F1 Grand Prix, GP Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit

Romain Grosjean has topped the first session at Abu Dhabi. He went faster than Lewis Hamilton who appeared well on the pace early on, followed by World Champion Sebastian Vettel.

The early parts of the session were mainly run by Caterham and Marussia while Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said his cars were just waiting until the others cleaned up the track a bit. Most drivers who came out for a few reconnaisance laps however soon complained of a terrible lack of grip.

Essentially, most teams remained in the box throughout the first half of the session as this session is virtually irrelevant for further running, as qualifying and the race will be held later in the afternoon, featuring lower track temperatures. One team principal also mentioned that towards the end of the season, teams are a bit more careful with engines as they approach their end of life while the number of available tyres are of course also limited.

Halfway into the session, Vettel took the fastest time while Grosjean was already very busy lapping the circuit. It was also the Frenchman who in the end would pull the longest straw, going fastest in this session. Lewis Hamilton was his closest challenger as the latter seemed very much on the pace early on in this weekend.