Practice 2 Report - The Return

Free Practice 1 for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton put a stop to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg's streak at the front of the pack, but Rosberg returned to the front after beating Hamilton by 0.138 of a second in FP2.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes ‘ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault ‘ Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes ‘ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari ‘ Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda ‘ Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes ‘ Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault ‘ Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes ‘ Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari ‘ Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. Sauber ‘ Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Centigrade).

Vettel, followed by Merhi, got things rolling. Vettel sang Happy Birthday over the radio to Ricky" ‘ his engineer Riccardo Adami.

Raikkonen soon posted a 1:44.237, and then lowered that to a 1:43.994.

9 minutes into the session, Rosberg took over first place with a 1:43.305 while his teammate Hamilton said his gearbox or clutch was making funny noises.

15 minutes into the session, Rosberg improved to a 1:42.899. But Hamilton would post a 1:42.524.

25 minutes into the session, Raikkonen used the super soft tires to climb to third place after going off the track a couple of times.

32 minutes into the session, Ricciardo and Vettel used the super soft slick to go second and third with times of 1:42.647 and 1:42.717.

36 minutes into the session, Rosberg, on the super softs, set a 1:41.983 to take the lead. Hamilton's time on the super softs was a 1:42.121.

40 minutes into the session, the top six were Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat and Raikkonen.

With 43 minutes remaining in the session, Perez grabbed third place with a 1:42.610.

With 40 minutes remaining in the session, the fast laps on the super softs completed, and the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Maldonado.

With 31 minutes remaining in the session, Sainz parked his car at Turn 7 after the team told him to immediately switch off the engine and stop.

With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Perez went off at Turn 8 and then headed to the pits with his rear brakes smoldering.

With 10 minutes remaining in the session, everybody was on track except Perez.

The top 10 at the end of FP2 remained: Rosberg, Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Maldonado.