Red Bull set the pace in Abu Dhabi final practice

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time of the third and final practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The first fifteen minutes were pretty calm as each driver completed a single installation lap before pitting.

Lucas di Grassi posted the first time shortly afterwards and the session slowly came to life. Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari set the early pace, waiting for the frontrunners to join the action.

The session really livened up with just over thirty minutes remaining. Robert Kubica and then Michael Schumacher stormed at the front while Alonso moved up to P3. Vettel slotted in P5 with his first timed lap.

None of them managed to improve immediately but they eventually did so and Alonso took over at the front with a 1’42’’291… only for Vettel to go faster seconds later and complete his lap in 1’41’’721. Nico Rosberg then jumped into P2 while Vettel shaved some tenths off his mark.

Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber subsequently joined in the fun. The McLaren driver went 2nd fastest before being demoted to 3rd fastest by the Australian’s Red Bull.

They all came back on track in the final ten minutes for a run on the soft tyres. Alonso reclaimed 2nd spot but quickly lost two places to Webber and Hamilton. He didn’t respond and ended the session with the fourth fastest time.

Both Red Bulls dipped under the 1’41 barrier to conclude practice on top with Vettel leading from Webber. Hamilton was third fastest, 0.584s slower than the pacesetter. Jenson Button completed the top five.

Petrov was up in 6th place for Renault. Schumacher, Rosberg, Kubica and Heidfeld completed the top ten.