Practice results from Abu Dhabi

The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button set the pace as rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso crashed out in Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton led Button by 0.199 seconds as the sun set on practice for Formula 1's only twilight race.

Vettel returned to the track despite flicking his Red Bull into the barriers at Turn One and was sixth fastest behind team-mate Mark Webber.

Alonso's Ferrari went off at the same part of the track but was still third.

Vettel is the only man to win at Abu Dhabi's stunning Yas Marina circuit - where he beat Alonso, Webber and Hamilton to the 2010 world title.

But the double world champion provided a heart-in-the-mouth moment of another kind when he lost control at the end of the main straight going into Turn One with 35 minutes to go in the evening session.

His Red Bull snapped into a half spin and slid across the track, wedging into the barriers.

Vettel climbed out and stood with a gloomy expression on the sidelines, anxious to get back in the car - which he eventually did.

Shortly after Vettel's crash, Alonso found himself in the wall at the same spot to cap a troublesome day for Ferrari.

McLaren were the only leading team to have a problem-free day and even before taking to the track they had been optimistic that they could overhaul Red Bull in the fight to the chequered flag this weekend.

Hamilton said in Abu Dhabi that two wins in the final pair of races would make a "big difference" to his rollercoaster season and he made a positive start by setting the benchmark on Friday with signs of a promising race pace during his longer stints on track.

Despite his positive mood in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton still managed to grab the headlines by dismissing as "rubbish" McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh's suggestion that he was feeling pressurised by Button's success.

Button has three races victories compared to Hamilton's two but the English team-mates took it in turns to lead the timesheets in Abu Dhabi.

Button led the way in the first session in the afternoon before Hamilton set a benchmark of one minute 39.586secs as the moon rose over the stunning Yas Marina circuit.

In contrast, the Ferraris looked a bit of a handful for Alonso and Massa, who endured a series of spins and off-track moments before Alonso lost his car altogether in the evening session.

"Ferrari have been jumpy this weekend," said BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz, who suggested that the team had struggled with their brakes and even the wind direction.

They are also continuing for the third race weekend in a row their tests of a new front wing which they are developing for use on their 2012 car.

But Alonso still managed to stay in touch with the McLarens, finishing the day just 0.385secs behind Hamilton's time.

Michael Schumacher was less than a second off the pace as he set the seventh fastest time ahead of the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta.

There were several drivers who were out to prove their worth in the final two races of the season here in Abu Dhabi and then in Brazil.

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, who will drive the championship-winning Red Bull in next week's young driver tests at this track, was just 0.256secs behind Toro Rosso's regular driver Jaime Alguersuari in the first session.

Swiss Romain Grosjean also returned for Renault, for whom he drove in the second half ot the 2009 season before stepping back into the GP2 feeder category, which he won this year.

The 25-year-old finished 12th and nearly half a second ahead of Petrov but cautioned: "It was a better help for next year but it doesn't mean either that I'm going to be in the car."

Canadian Robert Wickens declared himself happy after finishing within half a second of Virgin stalwart Timo Glock in his first run in practice.

source: bbc sport

I wonder whether Whitmarsh's comments will actually fire Lewis up, the McLaren looks pretty well suited to Abu Dhabi, and I remember Lewis being utterly dominant there two years ago in qualifying, so it should hold some fond memories for him.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:McLaren looks pretty well suited to Abu Dhabi

How many times have we said that this season prior to qualifying. Look what happened in Korea, absolutely dominant in practice and who ended up on pole and strolled to the chequered flag. Same old story for Mclaren, they begin to become competitive once the season's titles have already been given out.

Alonso will win the season ending finale

wow wrote:Alonso will win the season ending finale

Your so confident Alonso will win the 'season finale' in Brazil without witnessing the practice or qualifying session performance of the Ferrari.....Interesting 'wow'

John wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:McLaren looks pretty well suited to Abu Dhabi

How many times have we said that this season prior to qualifying. Look what happened in Korea, absolutely dominant in practice and who ended up on pole and strolled to the chequered flag. Same old story for Mclaren, they begin to become competitive once the season's titles have already been given out.

McLaren's biggest mistake this year was backing Jenson over Lewis. With all due respect to Jenson (and I have a lot of respect for Jenson who's got the very most out of his talent, including an F1 title), once it became clear RBR were hugely faster they should have realised that only one of their drivers is good enough to compete in an inferior car (something aknowledged by Alonso too, see the other article). Lewis's win in Germany remains for me the drive of the season, and had McLaren developped the car around him who knows?

Mad for Chelsea wrote:had McLaren developped the car around him who knows?

With Whitmarsh at the helm the chances of that happening were non-existent.

Why on earth would you develop a car round one driver? Especially a driver who has had a poor season as he has ever had.

McLaren are a team. They develop car around both drivers. They realised that to win the contractors that you need both drivers scoring points. That's why Kovi left.

If Hamilton is struggling with rules like you keep banging on about, why on earth would you develop a car round him. Surley as a Mclaren fan you would back your winning driver if you were to do such a thing!?

Alessandro Ciambella wrote:Why on earth would you develop a car round one driver? Especially a driver who has had a poor season as he has ever had.

McLaren are a team. They develop car around both drivers. They realised that to win the contractors that you need both drivers scoring points. That's why Kovi left.

If Hamilton is struggling with rules like you keep banging on about, why on earth would you develop a car round him. Surley as a Mclaren fan you would back your winning driver if you were to do such a thing!?

Hmm, Ferrari do it (and dominated the sport for years), Red Bull have followed suit (and have won both titles). Maybe Mclaren should copy their example