Lewis Hamilton finished fastest in the initial free practice session to draw first blood in the championship decider.
As expected, the Mercedes drivers were significantly ahead of the rest of the field led by Alonso, who finished 3rd in his last race for the Ferrari team with his replacement Vettel finishing the session in 4th ahead of team mate Daniel Ricciardo.
It was a session to forget for the Williams teams with both drivers suffering from the same mechanical failure on their cars when pressure build ups popped open the body work on their cars. Jenson Button only managed a few laps at the start of the session in what could be his last race in F1, while teammate Magnussen struggled for pace in hot conditions at the Yas Marina track.
Caterham driver Will Stevens finished the session last on his debut around 8.5 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton’s time, which indicates that the team may struggle to get both drivers on the grid for the race because of the 107% rule for qualifying times.
- HAM Mercedes
- ROS Mercedes
- ALO Ferrari
- VET Red Bull
- RIC Red Bull
- VER Toro Rosso
- KVY Toro Rosso
- BOT Williams
- PER Force India
- HUL Force India
- MAG McLaren
- RAI Ferrari
- MAS Williams
- GUT Sauber
- MAL Lotus
- OCO Lotus
- BUT McLaren
- KOB Caterham
- FON Sauber
- STE Caterham