Hamilton fastest in second Abu Dhabi session

Mercedes AMG Petronas

Lewis Hamilton held the advantage over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg after topping the second practice session for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton and Rosberg traded quick laps on the Option tyres during their qualifying simulations before the Briton posted a time of 1:42.113, 0.083s faster than Rosberg’s best lap.

The pair are separated by 17 points heading into Sunday's title-deciding race.

As in the first practice session earlier on Friday, Mercedes held a comfortable advantage over its nearest rival, with McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen 0.782s back in third position.

Outgoing World Champion Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest for Red Bull despite early gremlins with the DRS on his RB10.

Valtteri Bottas was fifth fastest for Williams, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen.

Jenson Button set the eighth quickest time while Daniil Kvyat and Felipe Massa completed the top 10.

Force India pair Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg were split by Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado, while Jean-Éric Vergne beat Sauber duo Esteban Gutiérrez and Adrian Sutil to 14^th place.

Sutil, driving in his last event for Sauber, suffered a brake problem early on into Turn 8 but was able to return to the track soon after.

Romain Grosjean was 17^th, ahead of Caterham drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Will Stevens.

Fernando Alonso completed just two laps after his Ferrari F14T developed a technical problem during the early stages of the session.