Abu Dhabi GP P3: Nico Rosberg quickest from Lewis Hamilton
Nearly three-tenths splits Mercedes team-mates; Hamilton makes mistakes on quick laps; Perez a strong fourth for Force India; Kvyat misses session
Saturday 28 November 2015 11:42, UK
Nico Rosberg continued his fine run of form as he topped final practice from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi.
A time of 1:41.856 was enough for the German to beat Hamilton by nearly three tenths of a second as the drivers battled strong gusts at the Yas Marina Circuit.
"Lewis has looked a bit scrappy and made a few mistakes on his quickest runs, so if he does manage to pull one together then there's every reason to believe he can be a real threat to Nico," said Sky Sports F1's Damon Hill.
"But Nico is looking dominant actually."
The wind was blamed for sending the world champion spinning at the turn four-five chicane, but Hill felt driver error was the cause.
"It was a bit of a lazy mistake," he added. "He just got it a bit too sideways, slung over the kerb and lost the back end. You can't blame that on anything other than just carelessness."
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was once again best of the rest in third, just 0.048 behind Hamilton, with Sergio Perez an impressive fourth for Force India.
Kimi Raikkonen completed the top five in the second Ferrari, a tenth ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.
However, while the Australian may have enjoyed a strong session, the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat didn't manage to set a time as reliability problems forced the team to remove the gearbox on the Russian's car.
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was seventh quickest, ahead of the two Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top 10.
Jenson Button was a surprise 11th quickest for McLaren, just 1.6 seconds off the outright pace and ahead of both Mercedes-powered Lotuses.
It was a difficult session for Fernando Alonso in the sister car, though, as the Spaniard was forced to receive treatment on a thumb injury and his car also needed suspension changes. Alonso eventually finished the session in 16th spot.
Abu Dhabi GP Practice Three Timesheet
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:41.856
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:42.137
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:42.185
4. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:42.448
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:42.627
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:42.726
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:42.859
8. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:43.173
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:43.239
10. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:43.429
11. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:43.508
12. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:43.680
13. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:43.718
14. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:43.826
15. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:43.928
16. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:44.014
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:44.325
18. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:47.283
19. Roberto Merhi, 1:47.520
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, No time
Watch the Abu Dhabi GP live on Sky Sports F1. Race-show coverage begins at 11:30am on Sunday with lights out at 1pm. Watch the Abu Dhabi GP for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract
