World Champion Lewis Hamilton clocked the quickest time during the final practice session of the season on Saturday afternoon in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton led the way during the early laps on Ultrasoft tyres, posting a 1:38.159, leaving him almost half a second clear of Valtteri Bottas, and 0.84s ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.
Räikkönen edged clear on his second run, recording a 1:38.157, before Hamilton drew clear once more, his time of 1:37.627 a new record at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Hamilton, who posted faster individual sector times on subsequent laps, while failing to improve overall, finished 0.273s up on team-mate Bottas.
Bottas, who avoided the barriers after a big slide through the final corner prior to his hot lap, faced most of his deficit to Hamilton in the last sector.
Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel wound up third and fourth, half a second behind Hamilton, and separated by just 0.017s.
Red Bull finished 5-6, with Daniel Ricciardo 0.713s behind Hamilton, and Verstappen almost a second adrift of the Briton, having expressed frustration over the feel of his RB13.
McLaren led the midfield group, with Fernando Alonso ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne, who again hit trouble through Turn 20, suffering a half-spin early in the session.
Renault’s Carlos Sainz Jr. placed ninth, as Sergio Pérez rounded out the top 10, in front of Williams’ Felipe Massa, contesting his final Grand Prix, and Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg.
Esteban Ocon took 13th, with a gap back to Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.
Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein was 16th, in front of Lance Stroll, as Toro Rosso finished as the slowest team, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley sandwiching Marcus Ericsson.
The only interruption to the session came when a parasol worked its way loose from a marshal sector and blew onto the circuit at Turn 8.
The Virtual Safety Car was briefly required while a marshal retrieved the errant object.
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