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Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel fight for the top in Abu Dhabi practice - Two Free Practice sessions are complete at Yas Marina

Published by Christine

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel fight for the top in Abu Dhabi practice
Credit: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
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Welcome to F1Minute - Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel fight for the top in Abu Dhabi practice.

Both McLaren drivers topped the ever-fast Sebastian Vettel in first practice at the Yas Marina Circuit, with Lewis Hamilton leading Jenson Button by three tenths of a second. Fernando Alonso was a second down the road, finishing the morning fourth.

Max Chilton made his debut for Marussia, completing 21 laps in his first F1 outing. Ma Qing Hua was also in action, along with Jules Bianchi and Giedo van der Garde. Unfortunately, the latter could not set a lap time as the Caterham car had an engine installation problem.

Vettel wasn't about to let Hamilton have all the fun, and he secured the fastest time over the McLaren driver in second practice, by just under two tenths of a second. Button was third, with Alonso falling to seventh. There was some concern from Hamilton about the steering wheel issue he had last weekend coming back, but it didn't seem to affect his pace out on track.

It’s also worth noting that Ferrari used up one of their four free passes to break curfew overnight - the work never stops!