Lewis Hamilton sets the pace at the Abu Dhabi GP

Hamilton led Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.273 seconds in the final free practice session.

Published : Nov 25, 2017 17:15 IST

The newly-crowned four-time world champion Hamilton finished 0.273 seconds ahead of team-mate Bottas

Lewis Hamilton topped the times ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas as the champions dominated Saturday's third and final free practice ahead of Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The newly-crowned four-time F1 world champion clocked a record best lap in one minute and 37.627 seconds to outpace the Finn by more than two-tenths of a second on another hot day at the Yas Marina Circuit.

The two Ferraris of 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen and four-time champion Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth, both half a second adrift of the 32-year-old Englishman.

Read: Abu Dhabi GP in numbers

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was fifth ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, with a resurgent Fernando Alonso taking seventh for McLaren Honda ahead of his team-mate, the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne. Spaniard Carlos Sainz was ninth for Toro Rosso and Mexican Sergio Perez 10th for Force India.

The session was run in hot, dry and windy conditions, but Hamilton was comfortably on top with Bottas in pursuit and the Ferraris struggling behind -- no major incidents occurred as the teams prepared for the twilight qualifying session later on Saturday.