Sebastian Vettel is on course for pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after heading Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber in final practice. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, 0.231secs behind the newly crowned world champion. Hamilton’s team-mate Nico Rosberg was fourth ahead of Lotus’s Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button’s improved McLaren.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, battling to hang on to second in the championship, was 11th, 1.167secs off the pace. Ferrari are fighting a lack of traction, a problem from which they have suffered for the last two seasons and which is badly exposed by the 90-degree corners and hairpins that abound at Yas Marina.
Alonso was beaten by the Ferrari-engined Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez in seventh and eighth places, as well as Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m41.349s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m41.571s +0.222s 3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m41.580s +0.231s 4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m41.721s +0.372s 5. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m41.832s +0.483s 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m41.956s +0.607s 7. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m42.055s +0.706s 8. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m42.282s +0.933s 9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m42.387s +1.038s 10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m42.457s +1.108s 11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m42.516s +1.167s 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m42.681s +1.332s 13. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m42.698s +1.349s 14. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m42.702s +1.353s 15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m42.727s +1.378s 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m42.798s +1.449s 17. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m42.989s +1.640s 18. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m43.142s +1.793s 19. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m44.472s +3.123s 20. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m44.728s +3.379s 21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m45.621s +4.272s 22. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m47.506s +6.157s