Hamilton on top after opening day in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton topped the times in yesterday’s incident-packed second free practice session ahead of to-morrow’s Abu Dhabi GP, the McLaren driver outpacing his nearest rival and team-mate Jenson Button by two-tenths of a second.

The two Englishmen dominated the day with Button fastest in the morning and second-quickest in the afternoon when Hamilton clocked one minute 39.586 to set the pace.

For Hamilton, it was a welcome return to something like his best form after a roller-coaster season of problems on and off the circuit.

Double drivers’ champion Sebastian Vettel, of Red Bull, and two-time champion Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari, both crashed into the barriers at Turn One during the session.

They were unhurt.

The double-shunt by the two double-champions made life easy for the McLaren team in the closing stages after they had demonstrated their speed and consistency ahead of tomorrow’s 55-laps race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Alonso wound up third fastest on a day when Ferrari suffered a troubled morning, but showed signs of recovery, with his team-mate Felipe Massa fourth.

Mark Webber was fifth quickest for the Red Bull team ahead of Vettel with Michael Schumacher, 42, seventh for Mercedes, and fellow-German Adrian Sutil of Force India in eighth.

British rookie Paul di Resta was ninth in the second Force India car and Japanese Kamui Kobayashi 10th for Sauber as the session ended with a full moon rising over the circuit at the end of the day-night session.