Lewis Hamilton remained fastest during second practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, although Mercedes team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg was within a tenth of his best time.
In more representative conditions, Hamilton worked his way down to a 1:42.113 on the Super Soft rubber, eight hundredths up on Rosberg. The Silver Arrows again enjoyed a massive advantage over the rest of the field, with Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren seven tenths adrift in third.
Quadruple World Champion Sebastian Vettel was the last driver to dip into the 1m42s, despite losing a small amount of track time when his DRS flap stuck open. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas recovered from his bodywork issues earlier in the day to place fifth, edging out the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.
Ferrari endured a mixed session, with Kimi Räikkönen jumping up to seventh but Fernando Alonso failing to complete a lap amid electrical problems. Alonso’s car ground to a halt just 20 minutes in and, despite being returned to the pits at the halfway stage, could not be repaired in time for another run.
Jenson Button suffered another delay in the form of a hydraulic problem, but ultimately managed to get some proper running under his belt. After gathering some much-needed data with the Soft compound, the McLaren driver bolted on the Option rubber to jump up to eighth place.
Toro Rosso rookie Daniil Kvyat wound up ninth, while Felipe Massa’s Williams rounded out the top 10 positions.
Full results: