Hamilton ahead as Mercedes holds big advantage
Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a trouble-free start to the Abu Dhabi GP weekend by ending the first practice session on top, little more than a tenth ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg. The duo confirmed their car's dominance as third fastest man Alonso was 1.7s slower on his fastest lap.
Sebastian Vettel led his Red Bull teammate in 4th and 5th, followed by both Toro Rosso's who again showed early promise. The team reported earlier this week they expected a lot from this weekend as they think their car is well suited for the circuit's characteristics.
Valterri Bottas was 8th fastest but managed only a limited amount of laps after a bodywork piece flew off his car, damaging fixings on his car that needed repairs before venturing out on track again. Felipe Massa has a similar issue with a part of the sidepod bodywork, allowing him to only run 7 laps.
Furthermore, there were technical issues for Jenson Button while his McLaren teammate Kevin Magnussen worked on evaluating different front wings.
At the back, Esteban Ocon debuted for Lotus while Adderly Fong got a first taste of the Sauber. Both were however faster than Will Stevens, the debutant for Caterham who will continue to race this weekend at Abu Dhabi.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:43.476 | - | 32 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:43.609 | 0.133 | 31 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:45.184 | 1.708 | 22 |
| 4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:45.334 | 1.858 | 30 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:45.361 | 1.885 | 23 |
| 6 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Str-Renault | 1:45.718 | 2.242 | 17 |
| 7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Str-Renault | 1:45.835 | 2.359 | 32 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:45.913 | 2.437 | 8 |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:45.983 | 2.507 | 23 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:46.030 | 2.554 | 24 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:46.049 | 2.573 | 23 |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:46.131 | 2.655 | 23 |
| 13 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:46.549 | 3.073 | 7 |
| 14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:46.556 | 3.080 | 28 |
| 15 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1:46.711 | 3.235 | 31 |
| 16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Lotus-Renault | 1:47.066 | 3.590 | 29 |
| 17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:47.235 | 3.759 | 8 |
| 18 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1:47.971 | 4.495 | 24 |
| 19 | 37 | Adderly Fong | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:48.269 | 4.793 | 25 |
| 20 | 46 | Will Stevens | Caterham-Renault | 1:50.684 | 7.208 | 14 |
