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With six podium finishes in his last seven grands prix, including two victories, Jenson Button’s performances of late have been marginally second only to double world champion Sebastian Vettel.
In his bid to finish runner-up in the drivers’ championship, but more importantly to at least win one of the last two races, the 31-year-old McLaren star set off on the right foot at the Yas Marina circuit.
Button clocked a lap of one minute 40.263secs for the 5.554km track, just under a second slower than last year’s pole position time from Vettel.
Up until the dying moments it appeared as if Button would lead a McLaren one-two, only for Red Bull’s Mark Webber to knock Lewis Hamilton down into third at the death.
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Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Australian Webber finished 0.126secs adrift of Button, and just 14 thousandths of a second ahead of Hamilton, who is again hoping for a trouble-free weekend after all his recent woes. Telegraph.co.uk
World champion Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa - despite a problematic session for Ferrari.
Adrian Sutil set an impressive seventh fastest time for Force India late on, bumping Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg to eighth. Paul di Resta and Jaime Alguersuari completed the top ten, while Friday testers Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) and Romain Grosjean (Renault) were 11th and 12th.
Meanwhile, Williams’s Rubens Barrichello was forced to park his car at Turn 13 with a serious technical failure. Having a problem this early on, and having completed only three laps, ensured the Brazilian was locked at the bottom of the timesheet. Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Pastor Maldonado took his Williams round in 1m 34.255s for 14th ahead of Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher on 1m 43.389s, as Sergio Perez headed Sauber team mate Kamui Kobayashi in their wake, 1m 43.412s to 1m 43.484s.
There was a gap back to Heikki Kovalainen in 18th in the lead Lotus on 1m 44.565s, as team mate Jarno Trulli posted 1m 44.898s. In the HRT camp Tonio Liuzzi was 20th with 1m 46.385s to Daniel Ricciardo’s 1m 46.532s, while World Series by Renault champion Rob Wickens got close to Virgin partner Timo Glock on his first Friday morning appearance with 1m 48.551s to 1m 48.024s. Glock was another to spin, as was Kovalainen. Formula 1
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