Lewis Hamilton, seemingly recovering from the personal problems which have affected his performances for the majority of the 2011 season, was delighted to top the timesheets in Abu Dhabi’s second practice session on Friday. The 2008 Champion led McLaren team-mate Jenson Button by two tenths of a second.
“I think it was a great day for us,” Hamilton said after the evening session. “The long run pace doesn't seem too bad - it is definitely a lot better compared to the last race - and I kept it out of the wall, so I'm quite happy with it all.
“We do seem to be quite competitive, but we obviously don't know the fuel loads the others are running, so we’re focusing on our own job; but the car is feeling a lot better for me this weekend, so I’m really hoping I'm able to keep that up.”
However, team-mate Button is less confident.
“The day was alright,” he began, “but I'm still not entirely happy with the balance and I haven't been all day. We have tried a few things and we are going in the right direction, but we have got to get to the bottom of it. The pace of the car looks good, though - Lewis is very fast, so it shows that it's quick.”
Hamilton claimed pole in 2009 and both McLaren drivers finished on the Yas Marina podium last year, although Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are the only winners to date.
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Lewis Hamilton
Jenson Button
Teams
McLaren
Other
DTM Tickets (best price guarantee!) at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Hamilton | McLaren | 01:39.586 | 31 |
| 2. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:39.785 | 30 |
| 3. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:39.971 | 20 |
| 4. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:39.980 | 34 |
| 5. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:40.104 | 35 |
| 6. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:40.132 | 26 |
| 7. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:40.553 | 34 |
| 8. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:40.951 | 34 |
| 9. | P. di Resta | Force India | 01:41.021 | 37 |
| 10. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:41.490 | 34 |
| Full results | ||||
| Jenson Button | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Jenson Button photos | |||
| Lewis Hamilton | |||
 | |  |  |
| More Lewis Hamilton photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
