Hamilton fastest in final practice – FP3 Report
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Lewis Hamilton was fastest in final practice ahead of his Mercedes Formula 1 team mate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton set a 1:37.627 to go a quarter-of-a-second quicker than Bottas, with the same margin separating the Finn from the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.
The two Red Bulls couldn’t match the pace of the top two teams, with Daniel Ricciardo fifth, over seven tenths away from Hamilton’s time.
Verstappen struggled with the car during the session, aborting several qualifying runs after running off at Turn 1 and then again into Turn 11 following lock ups. He ended the session almost a second off the pace.
McLaren continued to show good pace with Fernando Alonso in seventh, just ahead of the team mate Stoffel Vandoorne although the Belgian did not have a smooth session. He half-spun his car at the penultimate corner, and went off again later in the session at Turn 17.
Carlos Sainz Jr for Renault and Sergio Perez for Force India completed the top ten.
The session was momentarily neutralised by the virtual safety car when an umbrella found its way onto the circuit, sitting at the apex of Turn 7 before the marshals could recover it.
