• Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - FP2

Hamilton targets front row with improved McLaren

Lewis Hamilton was on top in Abu Dhabi after final practice © Getty Images

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Lewis Hamilton is confident he can play a part in the championship decider on Sunday by qualifying on the front row for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished on top of Friday practice, 0.3 seconds up on Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull. McLaren have been struggling with a raft of car updates at recent races, but Hamilton said the new parts were now - at the last race of the season - starting to pay off.

"We've been hoping for some time to improve our revised rear wing," he said. "It hasn't really been working fully since we first tested it at Suzuka, so we've not been able to use it to its fullest extent. We knew that it had potential though - and to have it finally working properly is a huge plus for us."

He is not underestimating the challenge from the Red Bulls, but said he was confident McLaren had closed the gap this weekend.

"The car feels good, so I'm hopeful for a good qualifying result tomorrow afternoon. Of course, it will be tough, because the Red Bulls tend to pull out half a second in Q3, but our pace is closer to theirs than it's ever been.

"Of all the weekends this year, this time I feel like we really do have the right package to challenge the fastest cars. I think we can fight for the front row."

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh added: "We come to this race determined to end an already successful season on a high, and to consolidate our second position in the constructors' world championship. To that end, we've aggressively refined our rear wing design into its final iteration, and initial tests suggest it's delivering the additional performance we'd anticipated.

"Lewis set a very strong pace in both practice sessions, ending the day fastest overall - a result that provides us with plenty of encouragement as we continue to refine our car overnight.

"Last year, this race was 'the one that got away' from us following Lewis's early mechanical retirement after leading the opening laps. Now, the whole team will be looking to make up for that with victory this weekend - that's very much our aim."

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