Valtteri Bottas led a Mercedes 1-2 during second practice for Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Finn’s session disrupted by a bizarre collision.
Bottas moved to the front of the pack during the day/night FP2 session by clocking a time of 1:36.256, leaving him 0.330s faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
But Bottas, who will start from the back of the grid after taking on a new power unit, collided with Haas' Romain Grosjean during the longer race runs.
Bottas tried to pass Grosjean into Turn 11 but made contact, sending both spinning, leaving the Finn with a broken front wing and the Haas driver with floor damage.
The session was halted while marshals retrieved debris from the corner. Stewards have made a note of the incident.
Ferrari emerged as Mercedes’ primary challenger as Charles Leclerc survived a wild moment through Turn 19 on an earlier lap to place third, 0.386s behind Bottas.
Leclerc’s Ferrari SF90 snapped wildly as he exited Turn 19 and he brushed the exit barrier with the right-front of the car, returning to the pit lane for a quick check of the car.
Sebastian Vettel, who crashed at the corner in the first session, was fourth overall.
Max Verstappen drifted wide through Turn 1 on his hot lap but still placed fifth, almost half a second clear of Red Bull team-mate Alexander Albon, occupying a lonely sixth.
Grosjean placed seventh overall, ahead of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, with the Toro Rosso pair of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.
McLaren, which has already wrapped up fourth in the championship, was 11th and 12th, with Carlos Sainz Jr. in front of Lando Norris.
Renault had a subdued finish to the day as Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo could muster only 15th and 16th respectively, ahead of just the Alfa Romeo and Williams pair.
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