Hamilton off to solid start at Abu Dhabi
Lewis Hamilton has taken the best possible start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend by topping the first practice. He edged out team mate Nico Rosberg by little more than a tenth while third fastest man, Kimi Raikkonen was more than half a second further down.
Daniil Kvyat was one of only three more men who managed to stay within a second of Hamilton's time, edging out Sebastian Vettel in the second Ferrari and Nico Hulkenberg in a Force India.
It was overall an uneventful session, without any major drama for anyone. Only Jolyon Palmer was sidelined for most of the session, until Lotus managed to fix a water leak on his Lotus with just 12 minutes left on the clock. Palmer spun on one of his few laps in the session, but without any harm done to anyone or anything at all.
Results
| Pos. | .No. | .Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:43.754 | 28 | |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:43.895 | +0.141s | 32 |
| 3 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:44.500 | +0.746s | 27 |
| 4 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull Racing | 1:44.702 | +0.948s | 23 |
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:44.742 | +0.988s | 23 |
| 6 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:44.751 | +0.997s | 22 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing | 1:44.893 | +1.139s | 26 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:44.934 | +1.180s | 27 |
| 9 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:45.314 | +1.560s | 29 |
| 10 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:45.433 | +1.679s | 20 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:45.603 | +1.849s | 22 |
| 12 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:45.718 | +1.964s | 32 |
| 13 | 22 | Jenson Button | Mclaren | 1:45.773 | +2.019s | 15 |
| 14 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Mclaren | 1:45.865 | +2.111s | 20 |
| 15 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:46.115 | +2.361s | 20 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:46.220 | +2.466s | 21 |
| 17 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:46.407 | +2.653s | 29 |
| 18 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus | 1:46.501 | +2.747s | 9 |
| 19 | 28 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:48.836 | +5.082s | 19 |
| 20 | 98 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia | 1:49.888 | +6.134s | 20 |
