The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix concludes the F1 calendar for the season this weekend with drivers set to fight it out during qualifying today. Despite already wrapping up the Drivers’ Championship Max Verstappen was in a restless mood during practice as he pushed past both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton as they exited the pit lane.
The Dutch driver has 18 victories to his name this season from 22 rounds and will be favourite to win for a third consecutive season in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull chief Christian Horner sparked controversy ahead of the race weekend by claiming that a Hamilton representative had enquired about the possibility of British driver joining Red Bull, before signing a contract renewal at Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton denies the rumour stating that he is happy with the Silver Arrows. However, the seven-time world champion is without a race victory in the last two seasons after struggling with his car in consecutive campaigns.
The Abu Dhabi track has already taken its first victim of the weekend as Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz lost control of his car and span into the barriers. Sainz seriously damaged his car and the crash resulted in the second practice session being delayed.
in 7 hours10:49 Benjamin Goddard
Ricciardo wants clock to stop during red flags
Daniel Ricciardo says that he would like the racing clock to stop if driving is halted by red flags during practice sessions.
Drivers who allowed rookies to have track time in P1 in Abu Dhabi were then left short of practice time after two red flags stopped the second practice session.
“Yes, it’s been like that for a long time, but it would be nice to stop the clock,” he said as reported by F1i.com.
“I did FP1 but a lot of drivers didn’t, so they are staring down an FP2 with five laps or something.
“It would have been nice to maybe get a little bit of time back so maybe that’s something we can discuss in the drivers’ briefing and look for a few more rule changes.”
in 6 hours09:48 Benjamin Goddard
Mercedes line-up Hamilton replacement
Mercedes have been tipped to turn to young Italian Kimi Antonelli when Lewis Hamilton finally draws his F1 career to a close.
The 17-year-old has been making huge waves so far in his junior career. The Italian has been tipped to make a giant lap from Formula Regional to F2 in 2024.
