F1 practice LIVE: Max Verstappen fastest in second practice ahead of George Russell and Charles Leclerc
Follow all the build-up to first practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton returns to the scene of the toughest moment of his career as the 2022 F1 season concludes with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.
The Mercedes driver - who has one more shot at preserving his year-on-year win record in Formula 1 - missed out on a record-breaking eighth world title in 2021 in thrilling and controversial circumstances at Yas Marina, as Max Verstappen benefited from a botched safety car and lapped cars procedure to overtake Hamilton on the final lap.
Verstappen has cruised to a second world title this year but comes into the season finale under a dark cloud, after disobeying team orders in not allowing Sergio Perez to pass him in the closing stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix last Sunday.
Perez is level on points with Charles Leclerc in the battle for second place in the World Championship, while Mercedes are just 19 points off Ferrari in the Constructors’ Standings after George Russell led a one-two finish at Interlagos.
Follow F1 updates live with The Independent - FP1 starts at 10am (GMT)
Mayhem, mischief and Masi: Abu Dhabi, one year on
The stage was set.
Billed as the “Decider in the Desert”, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the final chapter in a Formula 1 season for the ages. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were battered and bruised – but still in the fight. Level quite astoundingly on 369.5 points after 21 races, it all came down to this.
Now, as F1 returns to Abu Dhabi for the first time since that thrilling and controversial finale last year, The Independent revisits the story of Sunday 12 December 2021 from the eyes of those at the Yas Marina Circuit and around the world as history played out in a conclusion nobody could have foreseen.
Mayhem, mischief and Masi: Abu Dhabi, one year on
As Formula 1 returns to Abu Dhabi, Kieran Jackson revisits the spectacle and the scandal of the sport’s most dramatic finale between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sets fastest practice time before Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Max Verstappen returned to the track on which he won his controversial world championship last year by setting the fastest time in practice for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
A year on from taking the maiden title, which denied Lewis Hamilton a record eighth crown, the Dutch driver set the pace under the lights of the Yas Marina Circuit.
The Red Bull driver, who has won 14 of the 21 races staged so far on his unstoppable gallop to championship number two, finished ahead of George Russell, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third. Hamilton finished fourth.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton was top of the time sheets in the opening running on Friday, but he ended the day six tenths adrift of Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sets fastest practice time before Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
The Dutch driver set the pace under the lights of the Yas Marina Circuit.
F1 to launch female-only Academy racing series next season
Formula One has announced a female-only racing category will be launched next season.
F1 executives hope the new series – revealed ahead of this weekend’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi – will identify the first female grand prix driver since Italian Lella Lombardi competed in 1976.
The sport’s bosses also insist the category, called the F1 Academy and aimed at young drivers already competing in junior categories, will not replace the W Series.
The single-seater championship launched solely for women in 2019 had to abandon its most recent season amid financial troubles and its future is in major doubt.
F1 to launch female-only Academy racing series next season
The series will consist of 21 races – three races at seven rounds – and will feature on the undercard of at least one F1 event
Abu Dhabi Grand Pix - FP2
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished first and second in FP1 this morning but could only manage second and fourth in the afternoon as Max Verstappen stormed back to the top of the leaderboard.
Abu Dhabi Grand Pix - FP2
Full results from FP2
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. George Russell (Mercedes)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
8. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
10. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
11. Lando Norris (McLaren)
12. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
13. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri)
16. Alex Albon (Williams)
17. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
19. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
Abu Dhabi Grand Pix - FP2
World Champion, Max Verstappen, records the quickest time of FP2 with a 1:25.146 in his Red Bull. Next up is George Russell +0.341secs behind.
Abu Dhabi Grand Pix - FP2
Max Verstappen ends the session in first place on the leaderboard. He looked determined to impress before the session even and he lived up to that.
Lewis Hamilton heads into the pits early secure in fourth behind teammate George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
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