FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2020 – FREE PRACTICE

 

BOTTAS FASTEST ON MEDIUM C4 WITH 2021 TYRES ALSO ON TRACK

 

Yas Marina -:

FRIDAY TYRE SUMMARY

  • Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time in today’s practice ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who returned to action after he missed the Sakhir Grand Prix. Both drivers set their best times in FP2 using the P Zero Yellow medium tyre.
  • Max Verstappen had led FP1 for Red Bull on the Red Soft tyre. But as is usually the case in Abu Dhabi, FP2 is the more representative session as the sun set and temperatures fell, just like in qualifying and the race.
  • In FP2, the drivers also had the chance to try out one set of Pirelli’s 2021 tyres in the C4 compound. Every driver started the session on these tyres, on which they were required to complete a minimum of eight timed laps.
  • The compounds currently look closely-matched, with an estimated performance gap of 0.5 seconds between the soft and medium compounds, and 0.3 seconds between the medium and the hard.

 

 

MARIO ISOLA, HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING

“Together with the teams we had another chance to collect some useful data during FP2 about our 2021 tyres in the C4 compound. We will now analyse this data before the tyres for next year are seen again in pre-season testing. As is normal with the schedule here in Abu Dhabi, FP2 was also the key chance for the teams to learn about the tyres ahead of the race, when the sun will be setting and the temperatures will gradually fall until the chequered flag. Track temperatures in FP1 were 12-14°C higher in comparison to FP2, making it not so relevant for qualifying and the race. We have seen gaps closer than expected between the hard and medium, making them valuable for different strategies during the race. We did notice some graining on the soft, especially on the front, but we expect this to improve over the weekend as the teams fine-tune their setups. The medium compound might play a key role for qualifying tomorrow: it will be interesting to see who will try to get through Q2 on the Yellow tyre.”

 

 

 

TOP 3 TIMES
FP1
Verstappen 1m37.378s SOFT C5 NEW
Bottas 1m37.412s SOFT C5 NEW
Ocon 1m38.515s SOFT C5 NEW
FP2
Bottas 1m36.276s MEDIUM C4 NEW
Hamilton 1m36.479s MEDIUM C4 NEW
Verstappen 1m37.046s MEDIUM C4 NEW

 

 

BEST TIME BY COMPOUNDS
FP1
HARD C3 Bottas 1m38.424s
MEDIUM C4 Gasly 1m38.911s
SOFT C5 Verstappen 1m37.378s
FP2
HARD C3 Sainz 1m37.618s
MEDIUM C4 Bottas 1m36.276s
SOFT C5 Verstappen 1m37.029s

 

 

MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND SO FAR
COMPOUND DRIVER LAPS
HARD C3 Bottas, Hamilton 24
MEDIUM C4 Kvyat 21
SOFT C5 Ocon, Perez 19

 

 

TYRE STATISTICS OF THE DAY
 
Kms driven* 1310 1499 2116
Sets used overall** 20 22 36

 

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.

** Per compound, all drivers combined.

 

 

MIN. STARTING PRESSURES (slicks) EOS  CAMBER LIMIT
23.0 psi (front) |

20.0 psi (rear)

-3.75° (front) |

-2.00° (rear)

 


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