Hamilton fastest in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton could be the man to end Sebastian Vettel’s winning streak after dominating the opening free practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Vettel has won the last four races and will be looking to extend his lead in the championship with another victory this weekend, but Hamilton could be the one to watch after an impressive showing in Friday morning’s session at the Yas Marina Circuit.

As expected there was a slow start to proceedings but things began to heat up as the 90 minutes ticked by and Hamilton was the one to catch with a best of 1:43.285 to finish ahead of his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button.

Hamilton’s time came well before Button clocked his best effort of 1:43.618 with Vettel over three quarters of a second slower.

Championship contender Fernando Alonso will hope for a big improvement after finishing over a second slower than Hamilton and 0.3 behind Vettel.

Mark Webber was fifth fastest in the second Red Bull ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes and Williams’ Pastor Maldonado.

Nico Rosberg posted the eighth best time of the morning in the second Mercedes with Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen completing the top ten.

Jean-Eric Vergne was the first driver to set the pace but Bottas, Schumacher and Alonso all took turns at the top before Vettel enjoyed a spell. However, Hamilton’s time of 1:43.285 came with 25 minutes remaining and he was not to be beaten.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Practice 1 Results:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m43.285 20
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m43.618s + 0.333 18
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m44.050s + 0.765 21
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m44.366s + 1.081 20
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m44.542s + 1.257 21
6. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m44.694s + 1.409 21
7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m45.194s + 1.909 19
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m45.347s + 2.062 24
9. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m45.347s + 2.062 23
10. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m45.422s + 2.137 15
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m45.567s + 2.282 23
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m45.587s + 2.302 18
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m45.722s + 2.437 19
14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m45.743s + 2.458 19
15. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1m45.769s + 2.484 21
16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m45.811s + 2.526 21
17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m46.649s + 3.364 22
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m46.708s + 3.423 24
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m47.418s + 4.133 22
20. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m47.891s + 4.606 19
21. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m48.354s + 5.069 21
22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m48.887s + 5.602 21
23. Ma Qing Hua HRT-Cosworth 1m50.487s + 7.202 20
24. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault no time 3