Max Verstappen drew first blood against title rival Lewis Hamilton as the action kicked off ahead of Sunday’s showdown thriller at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Red Bull racer topped the first practice session on around Yas Marina Circuit with a 1m 25.009s lap
Hamilton went off three times trying to keep up on the re-configured Yas Island track.
His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas went off twice, making it a staggering five times Mercedes had lap times wiped off
That suggests the champions as struggling to keep up with Red Bull’s opening pace. But neither team has revealed their full hand yet.
Hamilton was even bettered by Bottas, who was almost two tenths behind the Dutchman with the world champion third.
But just three-tenths of a second separated the two championship contenders who have been neck and neck all season.
There is everything to play for in the closest champion finale in nearly 50 years.
A Hamilton victory will make him the first eight-time champion in the history of the sport – finally bettering Michael Schumacher’s tally.
And he has admitted that this title would be the greatest of his collection if he manages to achieve it.
After 21 races across four continents, the duo go into the final round of the world championship on exactly the same points.
