Rosberg Fastest In Final Practice In Abu Dhabi

Nico Rosberg turned the tables on title rival Lewis Hamilton in third practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after setting the fastest time.

Hamilton, who leads his fellow Mercedes driver by 17 points heading into F1’s first double points decider, was fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions.

However, Rosberg’s lap of 1:41.424s around the 5.554km Yas Marina circuit put him 0.369s ahead of Hamilton.

Speaking after P2, Rosberg said that he hadn’t been able to put his best lap together and needed to work hard for the remainder of the weekend.

On the face of it, it looks as though his work is paying off, although after Hamilton set the fastest first sector time of all in the closing seconds – he wasn’t able to finish the lap – it could be the case that the gap is closer to the margin - 0.083s - the Briton enjoyed on Friday.

Felipe Massa was third fastest for Williams ahead of Fernando Alonso, who only ran during the first 20 minutes.

The Spaniard’s Ferrari had suffered electrical problems on Friday and he set the early pace after running both the soft and supersoft tyres.

He then sat out the rest of the session, though, to give Ferrari’s mechanics enough time to change his car’s engine ahead of qualifying.