Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas set the pace during the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while a crash for Sebastian Vettel brought running to a premature halt. Bottas, who will drop to the back of the grid on Sunday after taking a fresh engine, set a time of 1:36.957 on the Medium tyres to finish atop the pile. Bottas’ lap left him 0.535s clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, while reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton – who sported the number 1 on his car for the opening half of the session – was third. Hamilton briefly reported a loss of power midway through the session but Mercedes swiftly confirmed that a sensor issue caused...
Full Story »