Abu Dhabi GP Practice Two: Lewis Hamilton stays ahead at Yas Marina

Lewis Hamilton edged out Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in Practice Two in Abu Dhabi, but there was less than a tenth of a second between the title protagonists.

Rosberg is guaranteed to clinch the Drivers' Championship if he finishes Sunday's season-concluding Duel in the Desert in the top three.

Earler, Hamilton had been almost four tenths clear of Rosberg in Practice One as Mercedes put clear daylight between themselves and their rivals. 

But as the sun set at the Yas Marina Circuit during Practice Two, both Rosberg and Mercedes' rivals closed in on Hamilton with the Englishman only fractionally faster on their qualifying simulation runs and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel just over two tenths behind.

Hamilton had gearbox worries early in the session but, after a brief stop in the garage, the reigning champion was sent out and set the table-topping time of 1:40.861.

Mercedes confirmed it was a Friday gearbox in the W07, so there should be no concerns over reliability during the rest of the weekend.

Rosberg made an error on the exit of Turn 14, running a fraction wide and losing perhaps a tenth of a second, suggesting the qualifying duel will be very close on Saturday. 

Vettel was third quickest but also had gearbox woes. The Ferrari driver's problem was rather dramatic than Hamilton's as he came into a halt on track in the final 10 minutes. Under acceleration on the exit of Turn 14, the Ferrari lost drive and coasted to a stop.

Prior to that the German had been two tenths off the Mercedes pair, but three tenths clear of fourth placed Max Verstappen, who was a thousandth of a second ahead of Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

"Mercedes, as expected, are ahead but I don't think they're miles ahead," said Ricciardo. "So maybe we can still race them on Sunday."

Asked about Rosberg's approach, Ricciardo replied: "Maybe he's holding back a bit not showing Lewis too much, it's going to be interesting. I think everybody predicts Lewis to take pole, so we'll see how it plays out."

Kimi Raikkonen's time in fifth was somewhat unrepresentative after the Finn ran wide on his first flying lap, setting his best time on his second flyer.

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Worryingly for Toro Rosso, Daniil Kvyat suffered a left-rear puncture, just as he had in Practice One.

The Russian was tipped into a high-speed spin at Turn 15 after suffering the deflation. Both he and team-mate Carlos Sainz remained in the garage following the incident.

"There was a problem with the rear hubs which were fouling on the rims and it was cracking the rims which was causing the tyre to fail," reported Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz.

Abu Dhabi GP Practice Two Timesheet
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:40.861
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, +0.079
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +0.269
4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +0.528
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +0.529
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +0.603
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +1.098
8. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1.180
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, +1.403
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, +1.407
11. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +1.505
12. Jenson Button, McLaren, +1.962
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, +2.151
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas, +2.247
15. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, +2.411
16. Esteban Ocon, Manor, +2.739
17. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, +2.893
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, +3.042
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +3.184
20. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, +3.256
21. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +3.617
22. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, +5.087