Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished comfortably clear during the daylight final practice session for Formula 1’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen swiftly set the benchmark up front though a mistake on his subsequent Soft tyre run meant he did not improve.
However he re-emerged in the closing stages of the session and clocked a time of 1:36.251s to leave him 0.501s clear of Red Bull team-mate Alexander Albon.
In a relatively uneventful session at the Yas Marina Circuit, in which there was no running at all for the first 15 minutes, Mercedes had a low-key session, with Lewis Hamilton classifying sixth and Valtteri Bottas ninth.
Bottas had led Hamilton during the twilight second practice session on Friday.
Renault fronts usual suspects
Mercedes was the atypical interloper in the battle between the midfield teams, which has been closely-fought since the delayed season began in July.
Renault finished third and fourth, six-tenths behind Verstappen, with Daniel Ricciardo edging Esteban Ocon by just 0.022s.
Lando Norris was fifth overall, ahead of Hamilton, with Lance Stroll seventh and Carlos Sainz eighth.
Sergio Perez, who will start from the back of the grid after taking on fresh engine components, rounded out the top 10.
AlphaTauri and Ferrari was slightly adrift of its midfield rivals, with Daniil Kvyat 11th, Charles Leclerc – who will take a three-place grid drop into qualifying – 12th, Pierre Gasly 13th and Sebastian Vettel 14th.
Russell heads the backmarker battle
Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams – as they have done for much of the campaign – filled the bottom spots in the timesheets.
George Russell, fresh from his outing with Mercedes, classified 15th, narrowly ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, with the duo four-tenths clear of their usual opponents.
Kimi Raikkonen was 17th, outgoing Haas driver Kevin Magnussen 18th, while rookies Nicholas Latifi and Pietro Fittipaldi rounded out the 20-car field.
Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will begin at 17:00 local time.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. VERSTAPPEN | Red Bull | 1:36.251 | 16 | |
| 2 | A. ALBON | Red Bull | 1:36.752 | +0.501 | 15 |
| 3 | D. RICCIARDO | Renault | 1:36.877 | +0.626 | 12 |
| 4 | E. OCON | Renault | 1:36.899 | +0.648 | 15 |
| 5 | L. NORRIS | McLaren | 1:36.994 | +0.743 | 13 |
| 6 | L. HAMILTON | Mercedes | 1:37.012 | +0.761 | 16 |
| 7 | L. STROLL | Racing Point | 1:37.030 | +0.779 | 16 |
| 8 | C. SAINZ | McLaren | 1:37.068 | +0.817 | 12 |
| 9 | V. BOTTAS | Mercedes | 1:37.085 | +0.834 | 16 |
| 10 | S. PEREZ | Racing Point | 1:37.227 | +0.976 | 13 |
| 11 | D. KVYAT | AlphaTauri | 1:37.266 | +1.015 | 17 |
| 12 | C. LECLERC | Ferrari | 1:37.270 | +1.019 | 14 |
| 13 | P. GASLY | AlphaTauri | 1:37.371 | +1.120 | 18 |
| 14 | S. VETTEL | Ferrari | 1:37.728 | +1.477 | 16 |
| 15 | G. RUSSELL | Williams | 1:37.886 | +1.635 | 16 |
| 16 | A. GIOVINAZZI | Alfa Romeo | 1:37.900 | +1.649 | 16 |
| 17 | K. RAIKKONEN | Alfa Romeo | 1:38.269 | +2.018 | 16 |
| 18 | K. MAGNUSSEN | Haas | 1:38.457 | +2.206 | 14 |
| 19 | N. LATIFI | Williams | 1:38.765 | +2.514 | 17 |
| 20 | P. FITTIPALDI | Haas | 1:39.159 | +2.908 | 15 |
