McLaren dominate FP2 as Hulkenberg slots into third

Under more representative conditions, McLaren dominated the second practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, finishing with an untouchable 1-2 in FP2 ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.

With the grid now containing its usual 20 contenders after six rookies stepped up to the plate during FP1, the final practice session of the opening day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix got off to a busy start.

Every single driver was quick to exit the pitlane, with Oscar Piastri, who missed out on the opening session, just one of them.

Jumping back in the McLaren cockpit after lending his car to Ryo Hirakawa during FP1, Piastri opened his session with a lap six-tenths behind his teammate’s opening benchmark. 

On his second tour of the Yas Marina Circuit, it was straight to the top of the order with a time of 1:24.932s, weaving through traffic and setting purple sectors on his way to jumping a tenth ahead of Norris.

Piastri dropped out of the top three, still in touch with the Ferrari duo, however, he was not quite able to say the same for his teammate who circulated as the fastest driver on track.

As a result, Piastri returned to the pitlane, joining his competitors in the mid-session lull before emerging on the soft compound tyre for some performance running.

On his first C5 lap, it was a twitchy ride through Turn 1, however, he still managed to set a purple first sector.

The Australian set a personal best time in Sector 2, going purple again in Sector 3, before shooting to the top of the order with a time of 1:23.751s. 

Piastri’s time was beaten by his teammate, with his tyres dropping off over the course of the next few laps as made evident by his lock-up at Turn 16.

Oscar Piastri during FP2 at the Abu Dhabi GP. Image: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images.

He returned to the pitlane to swap back to the medium tyre, holding onto his title as the second-fastest driver in FP2 through to the chequered flag.

Taking part in his first Free Practice 2 session in Formula 1, Jack Doohan was among the first haul of drivers to lay down some rubber on the Yas Marina Circuit, setting a time of 1:26.434s which ultimately placed him in last place, however, unsurprisingly due to his long-run focus.

Into Turn 6, the Australian locked up under braking as he continued to learn the ins and outs of his A524.

With 30 minutes on the clock, Doohan followed his peers out of the pitlane for semi-representative qualifying simulations on the soft compound tyre.

Not targeting a miracle drive this weekend, Doohan’s time placed him as the slowest of all red-marked runners, 1.4 seconds off the lead pace and four-tenths behind his teammate before he locked up again at Turn 16.

Following the same trend as his competitors, Doohan headed back into the pitlane for a switch back to the medium compound, running on the C4 for the remaining 10 minutes of the session.

The Australian ended the second hour of practice in P19, with only the damaged car of Franco Colapinto behind him.

To start his final Friday session, Liam Lawson experienced the momentary high of life at the top of the table, setting a short-lived benchmark of 1:25.537s before settling into fourth fastest.

Lawson dropped 10 places as he set off on a long-run program, returning to his garage at the halfway mark of the session to make the switch to the soft compound tyre.

Liam Lawson on track during FP2 ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Image: Clive Mason/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

Crossing the line nearly a second off the then-benchmark driver’s pace, Lawson’s first red-marked lap was fast enough for P6.

He wasn’t able to better his lap of 1:24.503s, instead falling down the order and out of the top ten times as he sat six milliseconds behind Yuki Tsunoda.

Lawson took a quick break in his RB garage, emerging out of the pitlane on the medium tyre to end the first day of running in P11. 

With the sun setting on the remainder of the grid, and potentially on Ferrari’s hopes of finishing first in the constructors’ championship, the opening ten minutes of the session saw the top three times being traded between the two title-contending teams. 

Lando Norris secured the first medium compound benchmark of 1:24.332s, leading over Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, with the trio holding space for a two-tenth interval between one another.

Requiring two front-wing adjustments in the opening 15 minutes of FP1, Max Verstappen had issues with the front axle of his RB20 as he circulated the Yas Marina Circuit with the seventh fastest time.

Meanwhile, on the fringes of the top ten, Sergio Perez sat four-tenths behind his Red Bull teammate and less than a tenth ahead of the RB duo in P12 and P13.

After a mid-session lull, the drivers set off to complete their qualifying simulations, with Lando Norris once again coming out as the driver on top with a time of 1:23.717s, just prior to a Turn 1 wobble in the laps that followed.

The Ferrari duo weren’t able to remain within touching distance of their rivals, with Leclerc the slower of the two Prancing Horses in P6 after getting caught up in traffic as he said “half the grid is sleeping”.

Occupying the final place of the top three, Nico Hulkenberg set a time of 1:23.979s after his first C5 run, placing him two-tenths behind the McLaren duo.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24 during FP2 at the Abu Dhabi GP. Image: LAT Images.

A hefty hit across the kerbs saw the number of competitors reduced to 19 at the halfway mark of FP2, with Colapinto forced to sit out the remainder of Friday’s running as his mechanics inspected the underside of his Williams.

Williams’ concerns worsened just 15 minutes later when Alex Albon was spotted limping back to the pitlane after his car refused to get back on the throttle out of Turn 5, with the Thai driver complaining about his driving line.

Both drivers will take a five-place grid penalty for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Colapinto and Albon both having new gearbox components fitted this weekend.

Back on track, the drivers all reverted to the medium compound tyre, with the remaining 10 minutes of running dedicated to testing race pace.

Piastri was the fastest driver lapping the Yas Marina Circuit at a time of 1:29.0s, shocking Leclerc who was an average six-tenths slower than the flying McLaren driver as the session rounded up.

The McLaren duo held strong at the top of the order, taking the chequered flag in P1 and P2, with Nico Hulkenberg still untouchable as he ended Friday in Abu Dhabi as the third-fastest driver.

The final practice session of the year is up next, with FP3 taking place at 21:30 AEDT tomorrow, ahead of Qualifying at 01:00 AEDT on Sunday.

Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

Free Practice 2 Results: 

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Schedule: 

Friday, December 6:

FP1: 20:30 – 21:30

Saturday, December 7:

FP2: 00:00 – 01:00

FP3: 21:30 – 22:30

Sunday, December 8:

Qualifying: 01:00 – 02:00

Monday, December 9:

Race: 00:00

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