Nico Rosberg finished second practice for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 0.138s ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes maintained a comfortable advantage over its rivals.
Ferrari bucked the trend by opting to run earlier on the super-soft tyres while the sun was still up, meaning its times are not directly comparable to Mercedes, which set its times under the floodlights. For the record, Sebastian Vettel was fifth fastest and 0.734s off Rosberg on the super-softs, while Raikkonen was down in seventh and 0.866s shy of the fastest Mercedes. However, by running on the super-softs earlier in the session, the Ferrari drivers had more time to analyse the long-run pace of the compound in race-representative conditions.
The gap between the Mercedes drivers looks set to fluctuate throughout the weekend after Hamilton set faster first and middle sectors but lost out overall to Rosberg in the tighter final sector. The battle between the two may mean nothing for this year's championship, which was settled three races ago in the U.S.A., but Hamilton will be keen not finish his season with three consecutive defeats to Rosberg.
Sergio Perez was third fastest in the Force India with a gap of 0.627s to Rosberg and was 0.037s ahead of Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull in fourth. The second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat split the two Ferraris with the sixth fastest time, while Nico Hulkenberg finished the session eighth.
After a power unit issue in first practice, Fernando Alonso managed to haul his McLaren within a second of Rosberg's fastest time with a hugely impressive lap. He ended up ninth fastest ahead of Pastor Maldonado and both Williamses.
Toro Rosso occupied 13th and 14th, but Carlos Sainz had to pull over to the side of the track on his 20th lap with a technical issue. Romain Grosjean finished the session 15th ahead of Jenson Button, the two Saubers and the two Manors.