Neither of the Mercedes drivers were in a rush to get the show going given the conditions in FP3 were easily 20’C hotter than what they would experience later in qualifying.

Taking almost half the session to post a time, Hamilton and Rosberg slotted into third and fourth places respectively, behind the supersoft tyre time of Fernando Alonso and the time set on the softs by Valtteri Bottas.

Rosberg improved to take the lead with a 1:42.635 while Hamilton followed his team-mate up the order but was 0.128s off the pace.

Swapping to the supersofts for the final 15 minutes of practice – the last practice of the season – Rosberg upped his pace to a 1:41.424. Hamilton’s effort was hampered slightly by a slide through the final corner and he crossed the line 0.369s down.

The Championship protagonists had another go at it but neither improved their overall time. They finished first and second ahead of Felipe Massa, who was 1.005s down.

Alonso was fourth despite another aborted practice. The Spaniard, who missed the bulk of FP2 with an electrical problem, was quickly into the action on Saturday afternoon, covering eight laps that included a brief stint on the supersoft tyres, before heading back into the pits for a new engine.