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FRIDAY TYRE SUMMARY
* After Friday free practice at the amended Abu Dhabi circuit for the title
decider, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has gone quickest on the P Zero Red
soft C5 tyres, with a best FP2 time of 1m23.691s. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was
second-fastest in FP2, also on the soft tyres, while Hamilton’s title rival
Max Verstappen was fourth after going fastest in FP1 on the same compound.
* The Yas Marina circuit has been redesigned since last year, with five
fewer corners and a more flowing layout to aid overtaking. As a result, the
fastest FP2 time was around 13 seconds faster than the equivalent time last
year.
* The new circuit layout puts more energy through the tyres, shifting the
emphasis towards lateral loads rather than traction and braking.
* The second free practice session, held in the evening, was the only
representative session before qualifying, with track temperatures of 29
degrees centigrade and ambient temperatures of 27 degrees at the start. This
was about 10 degrees cooler than the track temperatures in FP1.
* The soft tyre, which is not considered key to the race by the teams, was
most often used in FP1 as the drivers learned the new circuit and asphalt.
During FP2 they focussed on a comparison between the soft and medium
compounds, mainly doing short stints.
* The performance gaps so far between the compounds on this new layout are
an estimated 0.4 seconds between the P Zero White hard and P Zero Yellow
medium, while the gap between the medium and soft is a bit bigger than
expected at around 0.6 seconds.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“The FP1 session was all about familiarisation with the new circuit layout
and the fresh asphalt on the new sections using the soft tyres, while the
more representative conditions of FP2 allowed the teams to concentrate more
on realistic race and qualifying simulations using both soft and medium
compounds for a direct comparison. There was some abrasion on the softest
compound in the morning with higher temperatures, which as usual improved
with more running and a high degree of track evolution – thanks also to the
support races. The track is obviously faster than last year, putting more
energy through the tyres. Of some concern here are the kerbs, especially at
exit of turns 5 and 9, as they are quite high and pointed. We are talking
with the FIA about this, in order to avoid anything unexpected over the
weekend.” |
TOP 3 TIMES
FP1
Verstappen 1m25.009s SOFT C5 NEW
Bottas 1m25.205s SOFT C5 USED
Hamilton 1m25.355s SOFT C5 NEW
FP2
Hamilton 1m23.691s SOFT C5 USED
Ocon 1m24.034s SOFT C5 NEW
Bottas 1m24.083s SOFT C5 USED
BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
FP1
HARD C3 Giovinazzi 1m27.821s
MEDIUM C4 Ricciardo 1m26.676s
SOFT C5 Verstappen 1m25.009s
FP2
HARD C3 Raikkonen 1m25.958s
MEDIUM C4 Hamilton 1m24.126s
SOFT C5 Hamilton 1m23.691s
MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND SO FAR
COMPOUND DRIVER LAPS
HARD C3 Giovinazzi 17
MEDIUM C4 Bottas, Giovinazzi, Gasly 21
SOFT C5 Gasly, Ocon 22
TYRE STATISTICS OF THE DAY
HARD MEDIUM SOFT
Kms driven* 184 1880 3422
Sets used overall** 4 22 56
* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.
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