Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton led the way during the day/night second practice session for the final round of the 2017 season in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton, having finished second to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in the daytime opening session, clocked a time of 1:37.877 as the sun set at Yas Marina, with drivers taking to the Ultrasoft compound to conduct qualifying simulations.
Hamilton’s time was the quickest ever lap at the venue, which joined the roster in 2009, as he wound up 0.149s faster than erstwhile title rival Vettel.
Hamilton also held the advantage during the opening sequence of laps, which took place on the red-banded Supersoft compound.
Daniel Ricciardo, having initially been held up by Haas’ Romain Grosjean, once again ensured three different teams occupied the leading three positions, as he finished 0.303s behind Hamilton.
As with FP1, neither Kimi Räikkönen nor Valtteri Bottas were able to match their respective team-mates, the Finns finishing 0.475s and 0.660s behind leader Hamilton respectively.
Max Verstappen held a low-key sixth place for Red Bull, a second behind Hamilton, and over three-tenths down on nearest opponent Bottas.
Force India pair Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon topped the midfield group of drivers, with the pair separated by just 0.01s, as they lapped 1.4s behind Mercedes’ Hamilton.
Nico Hülkenberg and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 for Renault and McLaren respectively, finishing a tenth clear of Felipe Massa and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Vandoorne suffered early drama when he spun through Turn 20, and had to restart his MCL32 in order to keep going, but he was able to continue with his run plan thereafter.
Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was over half a second slower than Vandoorne as he placed 13th, ahead of Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly, the Toro Rosso driver one of a couple to register his best time on Supersofts.
Kevin Magnussen returned to action for Haas, having skipped FP1 while Antonio Giovinazzi ran, and finished 16th, ahead of Sauber pair Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson.
Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley spun through Turn 1 though stopped short of the barrier as he finished a lowly 19th, compounding a difficult day, having been hit with a 10-place grid drop for taking on a fresh MGU-H.
Romain Grosjean suffered a spin and finished at the foot of the times, joining compatriot Gasly in clocking his best time on Supersofts, and completed by far the fewest laps, having been stranded in the garage for the second half of the session due to an electrical issue.
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