World champion Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the first practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
At the start of the final race weekend of the season, Hamilton was 0.141s clear of team-mate Nico Rosberg courtesy of a lap of 1:43.754. Once again it was Ferrari which emerged as the closest challenger to Mercedes, with Kimi Raikkonen third but three quarters of a second slower than Hamilton's best time.
Daniil Kvyat was fourth quickest for Red Bull as he edged out Sebastian Vettel by 0.040s in the opening practice session, with Nico Hulkenberg just 0.009s further back in sixth place for Force India.
Times are unrepresentative during the first practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit as FP1 takes place in the heat of the early afternoon in Abu Dhabi. With the race taking place at sunset and finishing under floodlights, only FP2 - which gets underway at 1700 local time - provides the teams with comparable conditions to the race.
Like the rest of the season, Mercedes finds itself comfortably clear of the field but Ferrari will look to close the gap in the evening session. With both Red Bulls and both Force Indias in the top eight, Williams started the weekend over 1.5s off the pace with Felipe Massa tenth and Valtteri Bottas 11th.
McLaren set solid times in the opening session to finish 13th and 14th with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso respectively, but it was a familiar story for the team as Button was limited to just 16 laps throughout the 90 minutes and Alonso complained of a loss of power.
There was also trouble at Lotus as reserve driver Jolyon Palmer - who will move up to a race seat next season - failed to reach double figures after a water leak kept him in the garage for the first hour of the session. Palmer did managed to complete nine laps but had a spin at Turn 18 as he tried to make up for lost time.
Roberto Merhi took part in his first practice session since the Russian Grand Prix but was 1.1s slower than team-mate Will Stevens as he got back up to speed in the Manor.
AS IT HAPPENED: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - FP1
Unfinished business: the scores still to be settled in Abu Dhabi
Chris Medland's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview
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| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:43.754 | 28 |
| 02 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:43.895 | 32 |
| 03 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:44.500 | 27 |
| 04 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:44.702 | 23 |
| 05 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:44.742 | 23 |
| 06 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:44.751 | 22 |
| 07 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:44.893 | 26 |
| 08 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:44.934 | 27 |
| 09 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:45.314 | 29 |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:45.433 | 20 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:45.603 | 22 |
| 12 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:45.718 | 32 |
| 13 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:45.773 | 15 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:45.865 | 20 |
| 15 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:46.115 | 20 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:46.220 | 21 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:46.407 | 29 |
| 18 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus | 1:47.068 | 9 |
| 19 | Will Stevens | Manor | 1:48.836 | 19 |
| 20 | Roberto Merhi | Manor | 1:49.888 | 20 |
