Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel kept up the Austrian team’s impressive pace throughout the season by topping the times once more in Friday Practice 1, at the Yas Marina circuit. Lewis Hamilton surprised everyone by putting a recently lacklustre MP4-25 on the fastest slot in the second session – maybe his championship hopes aren’t completely over, after all?
Practice 1
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time/Retired | Gap | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian | Vettel | RBR-Renault | 01:42.760 | 18 | |
| 2 | 2 | Lewis | Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:43.369 | 0.609 | 16 |
| 3 | 1 | Jenson | Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:43.785 | 1.025 | 19 |
| 4 | 6 | Mark | Webber | RBR-Renault | 01:43.840 | 1.080 | 19 |
| 5 | 11 | Robert | Kubica | Renault | 01:44.080 | 1.320 | 19 |
| 6 | 8 | Fernando | Alonso | Ferrari | 01:44.121 | 1.361 | 17 |
| 7 | 3 | Michael | Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 01:44.199 | 1.439 | 19 |
| 8 | 23 | Kamui | Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 01:44.604 | 1.844 | 18 |
| 9 | 4 | Nico | Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 01:44.718 | 1.958 | 19 |
| 10 | 22 | Nick | Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 01:44.737 | 1.977 | 19 |
| 11 | 7 | Felipe | Massa | Ferrari | 01:45.160 | 2.400 | 18 |
| 12 | 12 | Vitaly | Petrov | Renault | 01:45.445 | 2.685 | 21 |
| 13 | 9 | Rubens | Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 01:45.474 | 2.714 | 15 |
| 14 | 14 | Adrian | Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 01:45.552 | 2.792 | 20 |
| 15 | 15 | Vitantonio | Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 01:45.585 | 2.825 | 14 |
| 16 | 17 | Jaime | Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 01:46.003 | 3.243 | 20 |
| 17 | 10 | Nico | Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 01:46.644 | 3.884 | 19 |
| 18 | 16 | Sebastien | Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 01:47.105 | 4.345 | 22 |
| 19 | 24 | Timo | Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:48.450 | 5.690 | 19 |
| 20 | 18 | Jarno | Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 01:48.472 | 5.712 | 17 |
| 21 | 25 | Lucas | di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:49.375 | 6.615 | 13 |
| 22 | 21 | Bruno | Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 01:49.590 | 6.830 | 18 |
| 23 | 20 | Christian | Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 01:50.274 | 7.514 | 17 |
| 24 | 19 | Fairuz | Fauzy | Lotus-Cosworth | 01:51.705 | 8.945 | 18 |
Practice 2
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time/Retired | Gap | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Lewis | Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:40.888 | 25 | |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian | Vettel | RBR-Renault | 01:41.145 | 0.257 | 28 |
| 3 | 8 | Fernando | Alonso | Ferrari | 01:41.314 | 0.426 | 29 |
| 4 | 6 | Mark | Webber | RBR-Renault | 01:41.315 | 0.427 | 29 |
| 5 | 11 | Robert | Kubica | Renault | 01:41.576 | 0.688 | 31 |
| 6 | 7 | Felipe | Massa | Ferrari | 01:41.583 | 0.695 | 21 |
| 7 | 12 | Vitaly | Petrov | Renault | 01:42.096 | 1.208 | 31 |
| 8 | 1 | Jenson | Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:42.132 | 1.244 | 28 |
| 9 | 15 | Vitantonio | Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 01:42.203 | 1.315 | 31 |
| 10 | 4 | Nico | Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 01:42.222 | 1.334 | 29 |
| 11 | 3 | Michael | Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 01:42.246 | 1.358 | 29 |
| 12 | 10 | Nico | Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 01:42.449 | 1.561 | 32 |
| 13 | 14 | Adrian | Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 01:42.535 | 1.647 | 21 |
| 14 | 23 | Kamui | Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 01:42.768 | 1.88 | 26 |
| 15 | 9 | Rubens | Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 01:42.914 | 2.026 | 37 |
| 16 | 22 | Nick | Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 01:42.950 | 2.062 | 34 |
| 17 | 17 | Jaime | Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 01:43.128 | 2.24 | 17 |
| 18 | 16 | Sebastien | Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 01:43.584 | 2.696 | 33 |
| 19 | 19 | Heikki | Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 01:45.180 | 4.292 | 36 |
| 20 | 24 | Timo | Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:45.259 | 4.371 | 31 |
| 21 | 18 | Jarno | Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 01:45.612 | 4.724 | 35 |
| 22 | 25 | Lucas | di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 01:46.053 | 5.165 | 29 |
| 23 | 20 | Christian | Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 01:47.210 | 6.322 | 32 |
| 24 | 21 | Bruno | Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 01:47.434 | 6.546 | 28 |
