YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- Lewis Hamilton kicked off the Abu Dhabi title showdown by beating Nico Rosberg in the weekend's opening practice session with a margin of over 0.3s.
Hamilton comes into the weekend trailing Mercedes teammate Rosberg by 12 points and needs the German to finish off the podium if he wants any chance of a fourth world championship. He kicked off his weekend in fine style, setting a 1:42.869 on the soft tyre -- improving on his previous best on the softer ultra-soft tyre. Rosberg's best was on the ultra-soft tyre but was 0.374s shy of his teammate's benchmark.
FP1 was far from perfect for the reigning champion, who spun on the exit of Turn 5 after a long stint on ultra-soft tyres, but his position at the top of the timing screen will give him confidence he's continued his form after three consecutive race wins.
Rosberg finished second, something he can settle for on Sunday and win the championship, but will be wary of the close proximity of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who finished just 0.1s behind with times set on the soft tyre. Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari look a fair way off after the first hour and a half, with the No.5 car 1.1s behind Hamilton. However, it is worth noting that of the three practice sessions, FP1 and FP3 are the least representative as qualifying and the race take place later in the day at sunset.
Sergio Perez split the Ferrari drivers to take sixth, albeit on the ultra-soft tyre compared to two soft tyre times. Raikkonen was seventh, half a second behind teammate Vettel. Carlos Sainz finished eighth to round off the drivers within two seconds of the world champions. Felipe Massa, who spun in an identical manner to Hamilton on the exit of Turn 5, finished ninth ahead of Sauber's Marcus Ericsson. Alfonso Celis, taking part in his final FP1 of the season, finished 11th, but a full 1.2s off Perez in the other Force India.
On a weekend which has seen most teams load up on the soft and ultra-soft tyre, the super-soft, the 'middle' compound in this weekend's range, was the least popular of the opening 90 minutes. The only drivers to set their quickest time on it were 12th- and 13th-place drivers Romain Grosjean and Felipe Nasr, though the former spun out at Turn 1 during the session.
Esteban Gutierrez finished 14th ahead of Williams' Valtteri Bottas, who held firm with the team's usual practice of holding back on Fridays. Renault pair Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen finished 17th and 18th, with just 0.007s covering them. Fernando Alonso could only manage 18th for McLaren on a weekend he and the team expect to lead to a strong result. Manor's Pascal Wehrlein separated Alonso and teammate Jenson Button, who only completed 10 laps after what looked like a power issue mid-way through the session.
Jordan King's second FP1 appearance of the season ended in 21st and included a spin on entry to Turn 5, which saw him lose the car mid-way through the chicane. Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso rounded off the timesheet after suffering an early left-rear puncture, continuing the team's recent run of tyre issues.