Lewis Hamilton turns tables on Max Verstappen by going fastest in Yas Marina's evening practice; Esteban Ocon second, Valtteri Bottas third, Verstappen 0.6s off; Kimi Raikkonen crashes at end of P2; Decider in the Desert - watch final practice and qualifying live on Sky Sports on Saturday
Saturday 11 December 2021 13:35, UK
Lewis Hamilton landed the first significant blow of F1's Decider in the Desert by comfortably topping the timesheets in Abu Dhabi GP Practice Two, with championship rival Max Verstappen well adrift back in fourth.
Hamilton, who was behind the pace-setting Verstappen in first practice, found form in Friday's more representative evening session, finishing his soft-tyre qualifying simulations with a 0.3s advantage over the field.
Surprisingly Esteban Ocon led the chasing pack in the Alpine, with Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas third.
But more significant was the fact Verstappen ended the opening day of F1's deciding round with a six-tenths deficit to Hamilton, the man he is tied on points with heading into a winner-takes-all finale this Sunday.
Hamilton led with a 1:23.691 at Yas Marina's much faster newly-configured track, with Verstappen only posting a 1:24.332.
"I feel great," said Hamilton ahead of the crucial days in his hunt for an historic eighth crown. "Still a bit of a bit of unknown in terms of pace but I'm sure it's going to be super close."
Verstappen, desperate for his maiden F1 title, added: "Of course clearly the short run didn't go to plan, lacking a bit of pace. But I think the long runs were quite a bit more competitive."
A gripping weekend of action continues with final practice on Saturday before a crunch qualifying session, live on Sky Sports F1, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Showcase from 12pm.
While Red Bull were off the pace over one lap compared to Mercedes in second practice, they will be encouraged by Sergio Perez's pace as the Mexican was within a tenth of Verstappen in fifth.
Fernando Alonso was sixth in the other Alpine, although would have been ahead of Verstappen and challenging the Mercedes if not for a lap deletion, having made a small track limits error on his best lap.
The AlphaTauri and Ferrari cars were the next most competitive in the midfield.
The session ended with a crash for Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo, with the Finnish world champion - retiring after Abu Dhabi - losing the rear of his car on his very last lap and smashing into the barriers. Raikkonen was unhurt, though his team face a big repair job for his final weekend.
Looking at the timesheets at the end of Friday and the difference between Hamilton and Verstappen, Mercedes and Red Bull appears much bigger than expected, and ominously so for fans of the driver and team looking to end F1's most dominant era.
Rarely have Hamilton and Verstappen been split by 0.641s or more at any stage of this thrilling season.
But while Verstappen admitted Red Bull were still "learning and understanding" and had things to clean up, his team pointed to the pace at the end of Practice Two as a huge source of encouragement.
On the 'race runs' which are vital for Sunday's 58 laps, Verstappen was much faster than Hamilton with high fuel.
"They look very competitive here," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner of Mercedes. "We just need to tidy up the balance for the short run."
The season has also seen many bounce-backs from the leading teams, who often completely change their fortunes for the weekend with Friday night setup changes.
What does appear to be clear is that Mercedes have a straight-line speed advantage, as predicted, and are particularly quick through the middle sector, with Red Bull fast at the twisty end of the lap.
The final standings come Sunday, in both the race and of course the championship, could be dictated by which team finds more improvements overnight into a critical qualifying day.
