Max Verstappen ended the second free practice session for the
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with the fastest time. In doing so, he managed to stay ahead of
George Russell and
Charles Leclerc.
While Mercedes still ended the first free practice with a first and second time, both Russell and
Lewis Hamilton could not match Verstappen's time in FP2. Russell came a good three-tenths short of the fastest time. He had Leclerc in his wake, who managed to split the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton closed in fourth place six tenths behind Verstappen.
FP2, however, was mainly about race simulations. Conditions were representative of Sunday's race, so there were many long runs. Both
Red Bull Racing and Mercedes seemed to do well in that area, but
Ferrari seemed to lag behind in the pace of the long runs.