Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2018 – Report of Free Trials 1

If Max Verstappen was feeling persistent anger after being denied a win in Brazil, he was channeling it with much effect at the first session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, leading his teammate at Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo, to a surprise. one-two for the team being run began.

Abu Dhabi was not an ideal hunting ground for Red Bull in the era of turbo hybrids, but a solid performance of the team in free practice 1 allowed Verstappen to set the fastest time with a 1m 38.491, almost a second faster than the next fastest. Valtteri Bottas (not Red Bull), with Ricciardo 0.454 seconds behind the Dutchman.

Bottas himself beat his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, the British rider who enjoys the session to proudly display a metal number on the front of his car as a unique piece for this weekend.

The two silver arrows will have been surprised to have a buffer of two cars between them and the Ferrari, with Force India's Esteban Ocon – the man who incurred the wrath of Verstappen in Brazil – impressive to fifth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen de Haas in sixth.

The Ferrari – which, we recall, tend to play a little less on Friday – ranked seventh and eighth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in his last outing to the team, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Carlos Sainz's Renault finished 9th, despite the Spanish crash in his last FP1 before joining McLaren, while his teammate Magnussen, Romain Grosjean, completed the top 10.

Antonio Giovinazzi for Sauber and the man of the moment, Robert Kubica, announced Thursday at Williams for 2019, will be associated with George Russell, which will mark his first comeback in F1 since 2010. After a few tries Hard times for the Polish, he found himself in P20, about a second and a half from the effort of his teammate Lance Stroll, ranked 15th.

Aside from Sainz's tour de force, many other drivers also experienced difficult moments as they sought grip on Yas Marina's uncrowded circuit. Verstappen and Bottas have the chance to survive Turn 6 and keep their cars off the wall, while a pilot who was not so lucky was Marcus Ericsson of Sauber, who is mounted on the artificial grass passing through turn 1 and slid his C37 into the wall – the impact just enough to nerve the front wing of his car. He hopes to have a cleaner race for the rest of the weekend, in what appears to be his last Grand Prix.

The McLaren pair formed by Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were two other drivers who would face their last F1 weekend. But if both of them hoped to create a surprise this weekend and end their career in optics, it would seem that they are about to disappoint. MCL33 – by a point.

So it was Red Bull who was leading the running in Abu Dhabi. But if it's always good to get out of the blocks forcefully during a race weekend, the teams will be much more interested in their race in the colder conditions of the second day of the 2nd day, which will more accurately reproduce the temperatures and track conditions they will face. in qualifying and in the race.