Sebastian Vettel set the pace in the final practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fourth and fifth respectively.
While track conditions will be very different for qualifying – which takes place under floodlights after sunset – Ferrari showed strong pace throughout the session and Vettel topped the times with a 1:40.775. Vettel’s time left him 0.137s clear of Max Verstappen, with Kimi Raikkonen third, another 0.1s further back.
Hamilton and Rosberg were fourth and fifth respectively, finishing the session 0.1s apart and within 0.4s of Vettel’s time as all drivers set their best laps on the ultrasoft tyre. Hamilton had one minor scare when he reported a potential loss of power which Mercedes analysed and cleared as an unexpected de-rate.
Daniel Ricciardo was sixth quickest, while Red Bull spent some of the session appearing to evaluate whether it could use the supersoft tyre – which would last longer at the start of the race – to get through in Q2 this evening.
A fuel system concern limited Nico Hulkenberg’s running somewhat but the German was able to finish the session directly behind team-mate Sergio Perez as Force India appeared to have the edge over Williams, with Valtteri Bottas ninth ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in tenth place.
Felipe Massa ended his final F1 practice session in 14th place – directly behind the British pair of Jolyon Palmer and Jenson Button – having suffered a spin at Turn 6 late in the session when on an out lap. Massa then ran wide at Turn 19 as he had to abort his attempt at a qualifying simulation.
Toro Rosso had limited running during FP2 due to wheel rim concerns which led to punctures on Friday, but carried out more mileage in final practice, with Carlos Sainz – who had a spin at Turn 18 – finishing the session 18th and Daniil Kvyat 21st.
Pascal Wehrlein was competitive for Manor in 17th place, less than 0.1s slower than Kevin Magnussen, suggesting the German could target a spot in Q2 in qualifying. Slowest overall was Marcus Ericsson who felt the wrath of Fernando Alonso having held the McLaren up in the final sector.
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01
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:40.775
16
02
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:40.912
21
03
Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari
1:40.999
14
04
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:41.065
15
05
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
1:41.168
19
06
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:41.831
20
07
Sergio Perez
Force India
1:41.885
19
08
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India
1:42.067
13
09
Valtteri Bottas
Williams
1:42.076
19
10
Esteban Gutierrez
Haas
1:42.354
16
11
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:42.585
14
12
Jolyon Palmer
Renault
1:42.616
18
13
Jenson Button
McLaren
1:42.664
15
14
Felipe Massa
Williams
1:42.683
20
15
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:42.805
17
16
Kevin Magnussen
Renault
1:43.057
17
17
Pascal Wehrlein
Manor
1:43.145
17
18
Carlos Sainz
Toro Rosso
1:43.301
10
19
Felipe Nasr
Sauber
1:43.417
22
20
Esteban Ocon
Manor
1:43.733
15
21
Daniil Kvyat
Toro Rosso
1:44.105
13
22
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:44.238
20