Grosjean fastest in 1st practice at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Abu Dhabi: Lotus driver Romain Grosjean posted the fastest time in the first practice session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Friday.

The Frenchman has finished third in each of his past three races and clocked a best lap of 1 minute, 44.241 seconds in hot temperatures to finish .192 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and .258 clear of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Abu Dhabi is the only race of the year that starts in the late afternoon and ends in the evening.

Because qualifying and the race itself are held at twilight, when the track is considerably cooler at sunset, little useful data can be gained from the first practice session in the hot heat of the early afternoon.