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2011 Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix

1st Friday Practice 2nd Friday Practice Saturday Practice Qualifying Race

Discussion Thread

1st Friday Practice

Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix - 1st Friday Practice

(11/11/2011)

1:00

Welcome to our coverage of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Friday November 11, 2011 1:00

1:00

First Friday practice session gets underway

Friday November 11, 2011 1:00

1:00

A few drivers are already out on their installation laps

Friday November 11, 2011 1:00

1:01

It is sunny with the air temperature at 28 degrees while track temperature at 41 degrees

Friday November 11, 2011 1:01

1:03

Perez stays out for a second lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:03

1:04

Perez pits on the second lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:04

1:07

A few drivers opted for 2 installation laps

Friday November 11, 2011 1:07

1:08

Schumacher and Rosberg are the only 2 on the track at this stage completing their installation laps

Friday November 11, 2011 1:08

1:08

All drivers have completed their installation laps

Friday November 11, 2011 1:08

1:10

Test drivers taking part this session:
Vergne for Toro Rosso
Grosjean for Lotus Renault
Wickens for Virgin

Friday November 11, 2011 1:10

1:11

Pirelli brought an experimental soft tyre and the teams can try those today

Friday November 11, 2011 1:11

1:13

Vergne on the track and so is Perez and Grosjean

Friday November 11, 2011 1:13

1:13

Alguersuari also on the track

Friday November 11, 2011 1:13

1:14

Vergne and Perez pit without setting a lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:14

1:15

Grosjean stays out and starts a timed lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:15

1:15

Grosjean sets a 1:50.375

Friday November 11, 2011 1:15

1:15

Alguersuari pits

Friday November 11, 2011 1:15

1:17

Grosjean improves with a 1:47.751

Friday November 11, 2011 1:17

1:18

Perez returns to the track and Hamilton is on the track too

Friday November 11, 2011 1:18

1:18

For reference, Pole time last year was a 1:39.394

Friday November 11, 2011 1:18

1:19

Grosjean improves with a 1:46.401

Friday November 11, 2011 1:19

1:19

Hamilton is on a timed lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:19

1:21

A 1:43.899 for Hamilton

Friday November 11, 2011 1:21

1:21

Grosjean improves slightly with a 1:46.067

Friday November 11, 2011 1:21

1:21

Alonso and Barrichello on the track

Friday November 11, 2011 1:21

1:22

Riccardo sets a 1:53.095

Friday November 11, 2011 1:22

1:22

Hamilton improves with a 1:43.552

Friday November 11, 2011 1:22

1:23

Alonso pits without setting a time

Friday November 11, 2011 1:23

1:24

Barrichello stops on the track. He was on a timed lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:24

1:25

Replay shows he lost power suddenly

Friday November 11, 2011 1:25

1:25

Barrichello tells team "the engine is gone"

Friday November 11, 2011 1:25

1:26

Hamilton improves with a 1:42.617

Friday November 11, 2011 1:26

1:27

Hamilton's times were set on the experimental soft tyre which is only in use today

Friday November 11, 2011 1:27

1:29

Kovalainen goes second with a 1:46.008

Friday November 11, 2011 1:29

1:29

Hamilton back on the track

Friday November 11, 2011 1:29

1:29

Now Maldonado goes second with a 1:45.444

Friday November 11, 2011 1:29

1:30

More drivers go out onto the track for their first run

Friday November 11, 2011 1:30

1:30

Hamilton was quickest in S1 an S2 but doesn't improve

Friday November 11, 2011 1:30

1:31

30 minutes into the session and the top 10 are: Hamilton, Maldonado, Kovalainen, Grosjean, Alguersuari, Massa, di Resta, Vergne, Ricciardo and Liuzzi

Friday November 11, 2011 1:31

1:32

A 1:41.846 for Hamilton

Friday November 11, 2011 1:32

1:32

Massa moves into 4th with a 1:44.978. He is on the hard tyre

Friday November 11, 2011 1:32

1:33

Vettel on the track

Friday November 11, 2011 1:33

1:34

Apologies Massa is on the medium cmpound

Friday November 11, 2011 1:34

1:34

The 2 compounds this weekend are the medium and soft

Friday November 11, 2011 1:34

1:35

Vettel goes second with a 1:43.674 on the mediums

Friday November 11, 2011 1:35

1:36

Webber takes second with a 1:43.588

Friday November 11, 2011 1:36

1:37

Maldonado goes 3rd with a 1:43.608

Friday November 11, 2011 1:37

1:37

Vettel on a quick lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:37

1:38

Vettel goes second with a 1:42.701

Friday November 11, 2011 1:38

1:38

Alonso goes 3rd with a 1:43.244

Friday November 11, 2011 1:38

1:39

Button in 4th with a 1:43.452

Friday November 11, 2011 1:39

1:40

Button goes second with a 1:41.061

Friday November 11, 2011 1:40

1:41

Vettel goes quickest with a 1:41.820

Friday November 11, 2011 1:41

1:42

Alonso improves with a 1:42.457

Friday November 11, 2011 1:42

1:43

Webber and Button on flyers

Friday November 11, 2011 1:43

1:43

Webber quickest with a 1:41.692

Friday November 11, 2011 1:43

1:44

Now Button quickest with a 1:40.955 but he is on the softs

Friday November 11, 2011 1:44

1:46

Halfway into the session and the top 10 are: Button, Webber, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg, Maldonado, Schumacher, Sutil and Alguersuari

Friday November 11, 2011 1:46

1:47

Rosberg on a quick lap

Friday November 11, 2011 1:47

1:47

Robserg improves with a 1:42.130 - 5th

Friday November 11, 2011 1:47

1:50

Hamilton returns to the track

Friday November 11, 2011 1:50

1:52

Hamilton remains on softs

Friday November 11, 2011 1:52

1:52

It will be difficult to compare the times today due to the tyre testing

Friday November 11, 2011 1:52

1:54

Hamilton very quick in the middle sector

Friday November 11, 2011 1:54

1:54

Hamilton goes quickest with a 1:40.466

Friday November 11, 2011 1:54

1:57

Vettel improves in second with a 1:40.807. He is on the softs this run

Friday November 11, 2011 1:57

1:58

Only 2 drivers haven't set times this session, Barrichello who had an engine failure and Kobayashi who is on the track now

Friday November 11, 2011 1:58

1:59

Big off by Massa!

Friday November 11, 2011 1:59

2:01

Massa went off as he was braking at the end of the start - finish straight, he was on the white line putting him into a spin. He managed to stop the car before hitting the barriers but he has damaged this set of tyres!

Friday November 11, 2011 2:01

2:01

And now Alonso goes off!!

Friday November 11, 2011 2:01

2:02

Almost identical to what happened to Massa but on another part of the track. Alonso recovers

Friday November 11, 2011 2:02

2:02

Massa went back to the pits

Friday November 11, 2011 2:02

2:05

Button and Vettel are on quick laps

Friday November 11, 2011 2:05

2:06

Button goes quickest with a 1:40.263

Friday November 11, 2011 2:06

2:06

Webber goes 3rd with a 1:40.611

Friday November 11, 2011 2:06

2:07

Grosjean is into 8th with a 1:52.685

Friday November 11, 2011 2:07

2:09

Webber quickest so far in S1

Friday November 11, 2011 2:09

2:09

Webber's middle sector isn't as quick

Friday November 11, 2011 2:09

2:10

Webber improves with a 1:40.525 - 3rd

Friday November 11, 2011 2:10

2:11

Webber going for it again, this time he is quicker

Friday November 11, 2011 2:11

2:12

This time Webber has a slow 3rd sector, he improves overall but remains in 3rd

Friday November 11, 2011 2:12

2:13

Alonso struggling on the medium set he is on. He pits, currently in 7th

Friday November 11, 2011 2:13

2:15

15 minutes remain in the session and the top 10 are: Button, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Massa, Rosberg, Alonso, Grosjean, Alguersuari and Madlonado

Friday November 11, 2011 2:15

2:16

Not many drivers on the track at this stage

Friday November 11, 2011 2:16

2:19

di Resta goes into 10th with a 1:42.997

Friday November 11, 2011 2:19

2:21

Drivers go back out for their final run this session

Friday November 11, 2011 2:21

2:22

19 cars on the track!

Friday November 11, 2011 2:22

2:24

No improvements this run so far

Friday November 11, 2011 2:24

2:25

Only Barrihello and Grosjean not on the track. Barrichello won't go back out due to an engine failure

Friday November 11, 2011 2:25

2:25

Alonso goes 5th with a 1:41.377

Friday November 11, 2011 2:25

2:26

Vettel was on a quick lap but had a slow middle sector

Friday November 11, 2011 2:26

2:27

Sutil up into 7th with a 1:41.766

Friday November 11, 2011 2:27

2:28

Petrov pits with smoke coming out of his car!

Friday November 11, 2011 2:28

2:29

Massa takes 5th with a 1:41.260

Friday November 11, 2011 2:29

2:30

Webber splits the McLarens with a 1:40.389

Friday November 11, 2011 2:30

2:30

Alonso goes 5th with a 1:40.801

Friday November 11, 2011 2:30

2:31

Session over

Friday November 11, 2011 2:31

2:33

Top 10: Button, Webber (+0.128), Hamilton (+0.140), Vettel (+0.492), Alonso (+0.538), Massa (+0.997), Sutil (+1.077), Rosberg (+1.867), di Resta (+1.888) and Alguerusari (+2.114)

Friday November 11, 2011 2:33

2:39

11th to 24th: Vergne (+2.370), Grosjean, Petrov, Maldonado, Schumacher (+3.126), Perez (+4.149), Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Trulli, Liuzzi (+6.122), Ricciardo, Glock, Wickens (+8.288) and Barrichello (not time)

Friday November 11, 2011 2:39

2:40

Most laps by Grosjean and Maldonado with 29 laps each. Least laps by Barrichello with 3, Petrov with 13 and Massa with 17

Friday November 11, 2011 2:40

2:40

Join us in just over 2 hours for the second Friday practice session at 17:00 local time (that is 13:00 GMT)

Friday November 11, 2011 2:40

2:42

We have 1 ticket left for this event.. If you or anyone you know is interested, please visit the Abu Dhabi tickets page here

Friday November 11, 2011 2:42

2:42