Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2022: Max Verstappen dominates second practice

Red Bull driver gave over his ride in the first session, but showed no sign of being any the worse for it as darkness fell at Yas Marina Circuit

Abu Dhabi Grand Pix 2022 Formula 1 second practice session. Kevin Magnussen of Hass F1 Team in action. Victor Besa / The National

Abu Dhabi Grand Pix 2022 Formula 1 second practice session. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in action. Victor Besa / The National

Abu Dhabi Grand Pix 2022 Formula 1 second practice session. Max Vertappen of Red Bull in action. Victor Besa / The National

Race fans watch from Circuit's most iconic landmark – the Abu Dhabi Hill. Located opposite North Grandstand and adjacent to the Main Grandstand. Victor Besa / The National

Al Fursan aerobatics demonstration team of the United Arab Emirates Air Force at the Yas Marina Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Victor Besa / The National

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing on his way to setting eh pace in second practice. Getty Images

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands makes a pit stop during practice. AP Photo

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton pits during the first practice session ahead of the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit. AFP

Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo. Getty Images

AlphaTauri's French driver Pierre Gasly. AFP

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr and Red Bull's Sergio Perez in action during practice. Reuters

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase in the garage during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit. Getty Images

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during practice. Getty Images

Sergio Perez of Mexico and Red Bull Racing. Getty Images

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing prepares to drive during practice. Getty Images

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Getty Images

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc drives during practice for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in Abu Dhabi. AP Photo

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain leaves the pit lane during practice. AP Photo

British Formula One driver George Russell of Mercedes. EPA

Mercedes driver George Russell during practice. AP Photo

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands. AP Photo

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain talks to mechanics during practice. AP Photo

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc exits the garage at Yas Marina Circuit for first practice ahead of the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. EPA

Red Bull's Sergio Perez exits the pit lane during practice. Getty Images

Yuki Tsunoda of Japan and Scuderia AlphaTauri prepares to drive. Getty Images

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. Getty Images

Red Bull's Mexican driver Sergio Perez in the pits during the first practice session. AFP

Scuderia AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly on track during practice. Getty Images

Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson on track during practice ahead of the Abu Dhabi GP at Yas Marina Circuit. Getty Images

Robert Kubica of Poland driving the Alfa Romeo F1 C42 Ferrari on track. Getty Images

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton sits in his car in the pits. AFP

Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc sits in his car in the pits. AFP

Mercedes' George Russell in action during first practice. Reuters

General view of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc driving the Yas Marina Circuit. Reuters

Mercedes' British driver George Russell. AFP

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing looks on in the garage during practice. Getty Images

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen showed he wasn’t going to take it easy at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, completely dominating Friday's second practice session.

As darkness fell over Yas Marina Circuit the Red Bull driver worked his way up the leaderboard rapidly, with none of his competitors coming too close to challenging him.

Despite suffering a couple of unintentional skids early on and reporting braking issues to his crew, this seemed to make little difference to double world champion's performance.

His dominance overshadows a surprisingly positive result for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the earlier practice session.

Things were looking good for the Mercedes pair this afternoon, but, despite Russell harrying Verstappen on the leaderboard, neither driver was able to better their Dutch competitor.

The Red Bull driver ended up with a best-lap time of 1:26.146, with Russell 0.341 behind.

Verstappen did not take part in the first practice, giving over his ride to Red Bull’s development driver Liam Lawson.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc managed to take third in the second session, bettering championship runner-up rival Sergio Perez. The Mexican managed fifth place, just behind Hamilton.

For his part, Hamilton had a shaky start, appearing to nearly collide with a much slower Haas of Kevin Magnussen right at the start, a situation clearly proving highly frustrating for the seven-time world champion.

Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz stayed steady throughout the session, posting some good lap times early on. He ended up doing enough to secure sixth place.

Alpine teammates Esteban Icon and Fernando Alonso improved on their earlier times to take seventh and eighth respectively.

Kudos to McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo after he experienced problems early on, following a brief loss of control that resulted in his pit crew needing to replace the car’s rear suspension. He managed to secure ninth position, just one down from his achievement in the earlier session.

Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo also managed to keep his top 10 placing, though this time at the bottom of the pile.

Saturday’s F1 racing begins with the third practice session at 2.30pm, followed by the qualifying session at 6pm. The first race though will be the F4 UAE opener at 12.20pm.