World champion Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the third and final practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later Saturday. The British driver secured his fourth Formula One title two races ago, ending the fading challenge of Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, and is under no pressure in the season finale.
Hamilton raced to the top of the leaderboard late in the sun-drenched afternoon session, placing 0.273 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Bottas had earlier gone off track at the Yas Marina circuit and just avoided clipping the barriers before regaining control.
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, who is looking for his first win since the opening race of the 2013 season, trailed Hamilton by .530 in third with Vettel following a fraction behind in fourth.
Qualifying starts at 5 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) — the same as Sunday's race — and finishes under floodlights when the heat drops considerably at the desert-located circuit.
Hamilton was fastest in Friday's second practice, breaking the lap record set by Vettel in P1.
