Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg continued their private battle for the championship in Abu Dhabi as the pair streaked clear of the competition by well over a second in first practice.
The pair traded fastest laps throughout the session before Hamilton took control in the closing stages, but only by just over a tenth.
Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth with the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo fifth. All three were evenly matched and covered by two-tenths.
The Toro Rosso duo of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat filled sixth and seventh whilst Valtteri Bottas was eighth after a shorter session than he’d hoped for.
Both Williams cars were garaged after bodywork came loose, and in Bottas’s case, came free from the car to expose much of the engine and sidepod cooling systems.
It was a disappointing session for McLaren with Kevin Magnussen down in P11 and Jenson Button P17 – though the former was analysing updates including a new front-wing for 2015.
Meanwhile Will Stevens was slowest on his F1 debut, posting a lap over 2.5 seconds slower than team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.
FP1 Full Times – 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:43.476 | 32 | |
| 02 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:43.609 | 0.133 | 31 |
| 03 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:45.184 | 1.708 | 22 |
| 04 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:45.334 | 1.858 | 30 |
| 05 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:45.361 | 1.885 | 23 |
| 06 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:45.718 | 2.242 | 17 |
| 07 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:45.835 | 2.359 | 32 |
| 08 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:45.913 | 2.437 | 8 |
| 09 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:45.983 | 2.507 | 23 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:46.030 | 2.554 | 24 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:46.049 | 2.573 | 23 |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:46.131 | 2.655 | 23 |
| 13 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:46.549 | 3.073 | 7 |
| 14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:46.556 | 3.080 | 28 |
| 15 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:46.711 | 3.235 | 31 |
| 16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Lotus | 1:47.066 | 3.590 | 29 |
| 17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:47.235 | 3.759 | 8 |
| 18 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:47.971 | 4.495 | 24 |
| 19 | 37 | Adderly Fong | Sauber | 1:48.269 | 4.793 | 25 |
| 20 | 46 | Will Stevens | Caterham | 1:50.684 | 7.208 | 14 |
