• Abu Dhabi GP - FP3

Advantage Rosberg ahead of qualifying

Laurence Edmondson at Yas Marina
November 22, 2014
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In the final practice session ahead of qualifying, Nico Rosberg held the advantage over title rival Lewis Hamilton as tension builds ahead of this year's championship decider in Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton was quicker during Friday practice, but Rosberg hit back in the hour-long final practice session on Saturday afternoon. His best lap was 0.369s quicker than Hamilton's, with almost all of the advantage being held in the tight and twisty final sector, which Hamilton struggled to get right.

It should be noted, however, that in Abu Dhabi the setting sun and dipping track temperatures during qualifying mean a quick lap in the heat of FP3 will not always translate in to a good grid position later in the day. Nevertheless, Mercedes can be fairly comfortable of a front-row lockout, with Williams' Felipe Massa its nearest rival and over a second off the pace of Rosberg.

Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest despite completing nearly half the laps of his rivals. Ferrari did not report an issue with Alonso's car and it is likely his mileage was limited in order to protect the fifth and final power unit he is allowed to use without penalty under the regulations.

Sebastian Vettel was fifth fastest ahead of Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo and the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas. Bottas made a mistake in the final corner on his super-soft run and will be targeting the second row when it comes to qualifying. Daniil Kvyat and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top ten with McLaren's Kevin Magnussen just outside.

Caterham remained rooted to the bottom of the timesheets on their return to action this weekend but for the first time rookie Will Stevens got within a second of team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.

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