2017 Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was quickest during the final practice session of the season at Yas Marina.
The Brit and his Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team team-mate Valtteri Bottas were the only two drivers to set a lap time below 1m38, with Hamilton just over a quarter of a second faster. During the session Bottas had a moment in the final corner, but was able to keep it away from the wall.
The final free practice for the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and the final practice session of the 2017 season, didn’t have many major moments with no driver making a mistake that damaged the car. The most interesting moment of note was when the virtual safety car was brought into effect because of a parasol blowing onto the track.
Kimi Raikkonen was the closest competitor in the Scuderia Ferrari car to the Mercedes team but was over 0.5 seconds off the pace. His team-mate Sebastian Vettel, the man who was the closest competitor in the championship to Hamilton, was just a fraction slower in fourth place.
A bit further behind but within one second of the Mercedes team, the two Red Bull Racing drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were in fifth and sixth respectively. In seventh and eighth at the end of the session was Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne for McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team, who look on to be having a relatively successful weekend.
Carlos Sainz Jr. was the fastest driver outside of the top four teams in ninth, with his Renault Sport Formula 1 Team team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in 12th. Sergio Perez rounded off the top ten and was 1.74 seconds off the lap time set by Hamilton.
In his final race weekend in F1 before retiring, Felipe Massa finished the session in 11th. Esteban Ocon ended up in 13th, while the two Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean were in 14th and 15th respectively.
The bottom five was filled with the Sauber F1 Team and Scuderia Toro Rosso cars as well as Williams Martini Racing’s Lance Stroll.
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