FP2: Bottas leads Red Bull at nightfall

F1 Grand Prix, GP Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit

Valtteri Bottas has fired his first warning signal in today's second practice session by going fastest on his Silver Arrows Mercedes. The Finn is out to avoid finishing 2018 win-less, now that both championships are secured.

Bottas was just 0.044s faster than Max Verstappen in the best Red Bull, with Ricciardo also less than two tenths behind. World Champion Lewis Hamilton ended up fourth fastest as he settled down after a scruffy time in first practice.

Raikkonen and Vettel upped their pace compared to FP1. Good news for them, given that the setting sun during FP2 makes the conditions very similar to what will be the case during Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race.

Behind the closely matched top 6, Romain Grosjean was the best of the rest, putting his Haas VF-14 in 7th, 8 tenths down on Bottas, but ahead of the fastest Renault as they seek to challenge the yellow French cars for 4th in the constructors' championship.

Just like in the first session, drivers continued to struggle somewhat for grip, but it now came down to the sausage kerb in Turn 20, where many ran wide. Esteban Ocon at one point reported that the kerb was indeed breaking down, with Leclerc and Verstappen incurring floor damage to their cars.