YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- This weekend's title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix looks set to be incredibly close as Lewis Hamilton held an advantage of just 0.079s over Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Friday evening practice is the only session of the weekend held at the same time -- and therefore with the same track conditions -- as qualifying and the two championship contenders bolted on ultra-soft tyres midway through the session to set a qualifying simulation lap. Hamilton had the edge in sectors one and three, while Rosberg was quicker in sector two, but neither had a margin of more than 0.06s at any point of the lap, underlining just how closely matched the two drivers are.
Although Rosberg will be aiming for pole position on Saturday, a repeat of performance would keep him on course for a top-three finish and the necessary points to secure the title, while Hamilton has to hope drivers from rival teams can get in the mix between now and the chequered flag on Sunday. Mercedes' closest threat on Friday came from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who set a time 0.269s off Hamilton's benchmark. The Ferrari driver also used the ultra-soft compound tyre to set his time but suffered a gearbox failure towards the end of the session as he came to the end of a long run. However, the failure occurred on a practice gearbox and not his "race" 'box. meaning he will not face a penalty for a change ahead of Saturday.
Red Bull had to settle for fourth and fifth, with Max Verstappen 0.528s off the top spot and just 0.001s ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Red Bull has often been slightly off the pace in Friday practice before returning as Mercedes' closest rival in qualifying and the race. Kimi Raikkonen was sixth fastest in the second Ferrari following a mistake on his flying lap.
Valtteri Bottas took seventh for Williams ahead of the two Force Indias and teammate Felipe Massa. Force India has a 27-point lead over Williams in the constructors' championship, meaning the battle for fourth place is all but decided, but it looks like the two teams will still fight it out on track this weekend.
McLaren will be keen to become part of that battle and finished the session 11th and 12th, with Fernando Alonso 0.457s ahead of Jenson Button. The two Haas drivers followed next with Esteban Gutierrez 0.096s ahead of Romain Grosjean, while Jolyon Palmer was 15th fastest for Renault ahead of impressive performances from both Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein in the Manors.
The two Saubers and Kevin Magnussen rounded off the meaningful times in 18th, 19th and 20th after the two Toro Rossos were forced to abandon their running when Daniil Kvyat suffered a second puncture in as many practice sessions.
As it did in FP1, Kvyat's left rear tyre came apart at the shoulder, but this time it pitched him into a spin as he came through the high-speed section at Turn 16. He managed to stop the car just short of the barriers, but the scare was enough for Toro Rosso to call a halt to its practice until it had discovered a reason for the failure.