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Team Summary:
With a revised track layout the teams would commence the first of the Friday
practice sessions for the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. There would be a flow
of drivers taking to the track with a mix of tyres being used including all
three tyre types. Both Williams cars were running on the soft tyre.
Raikkonen would set a 1m:28.876 only to see Bottas set a 1m:26.580. Norris
and Ricciardo were second and third. Hamilton was now quickest with a
1m:27.148 followed by Gasly and Perez. The Williams cars were currently 11th
and 12th. Ocon was now third but thins would change as Verstappen set a
1m:26.463 to be quickest followed by Hamilton and Bottas.
Bit Norris was now second but again Hamilton would go quickest only to see
Alonso move ahead with a 1m:26.271 followed by Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris,
Gasly, Bottas, Ricciardo, Vettel, Stroll, and Ocon tenth. The Williams cars
were currently 11th and 15th. Verstappen had set a 1m:25.602 to be quickest
from Alonso and Hamilton. Perez was now fourth but Bottas would move into
third but Perez would take this spot so the order was now Verstappen,
Hamilton, Perez and Bottas. The Williams cars were currently 15th and 18th.
Verstappen would improve with a 1m:25.300 remaining quickest. Tsunoda would
move into sixth as the track emptied. The Williams cars were now 17th and
20th but their times were now representative as quicker laps had been
deleted. The Ferrari's of Sainz and Leclerc were 13th and 14th
Norris would improve to be fifth but Gasly would move into this place seeing
the McLaren sixth. Ricciardo was now in 12th ahead of the two Ferrari's.
After their first laps on the oft tyre in their second runs the Williams
cars were now 15th and 19th. Perez was third followed by Bottas and Vettel.
Gasly was now fifth but Tsunoda would move ahead seeing the AlphaTauri cars
5th and 6th. Verstappen had improved with a 1m:25.009 remaining quickest
from Hamilton. Vettel was now seventh from Norris, Ocon and Alonso. The
Williams cars were now 17th and 18th with both having pitted after their
second soft tyre runs. Hamilton had improved with a 1m:25.042 to be be 0.033
behind Verstappen. Tsunoda was now fourth followed by Perez, Alonso, Gasly,
and Sainz eighth.
With fifteen minutes remaining the Williams cars were now 17th and 18th as
Bottas went second fastest after Hamilton's lap time was deleted. As the
final four minutes commenced the Williams cars were still 17th and 18th as
they continued runs on used soft tyres. The session would end with
Verstappen
remaining quickest from Bottas, Hamilton, Perez, Tsunoda, Alonso, Gasly,
Leclerc, Sainz and Vettel tenth. The Williams drivers were down in 17th and
18th after an uneventful session with both drivers working on setup work
during the session.
Jack Aitken:
Jack would replace George Russell for this opening Friday practice. Jack would take
to the track first for Williams using the soft tyre. He would set a
1m:31.243 to be sixth dropping to seventh. He would drop to 11th as more
times were set. Jack would improve with a 1m:28.623 to remain 11th. This
would become 15th as he pitted having completed a nine lap run on the soft
tyre. He would return for another soft tyre run and would set a
1m:28.088 to only be 19th. But a 1m:27.733 would see him now 18th. A
1m:27.481 from Jack would now see him 16th. He would drop to 17th as he
pitted after an eight lap run. In his pit Jack would see adjustments to his
front wing. Jack would return using used soft tyres and he would have a bit
of a moment with the car running wide after a snap of oversteer in his car.
He would complete eight laps prior to completing a practice start on the
grid.
Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would also use the soft tyre for his first run. Nicholas would set
a 1m:31.348 to currently be tenth. Nicholas had dropped down the order but
with a 1m:28.686 he was now 12th. But a 1m:28.281 would see Nicholas now
11th as the order changed rapidly. But his time would be deleted. His
current best lap time was a 1m:31.348 as he pitted briefly returning to do a
single lap. Prior to that he had completed a seven lap run on the soft tyre.
Nicholas would return for another run on the soft tyre. He would set a
1m:27.676 to now be 15th. A small improvement of 1m:27.487 and even with
this Nicholas was only 16th.He would pit after a seven lap run. Nicholas
would return for a further soft tyre run but they were used soft tyres but
he would pit after a single lap. He would return completing nine laps on the
soft tyre in this run. He would complete a practice start on the grid prior
to pitting. |
