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 The Briton, chasing his second title, was 0.133 seconds quicker
than Mercedes team mate and rival Nico Rosberg with a lap of
1:43.476 on an afternoon that again saw the sport's dominant team in
a class of their own.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso, preparing for his last race with Ferrari,
was third quickest but a massive 1.7 seconds off Hamilton's pace.
Sunday's race is likely to reflect the title battle, with the two
Mercedes drivers in a duel of their own while the rest scrap for the
leftovers.
Hamilton leads his German team mate by 17 points but the Briton can
take nothing for granted, with double points on offer for the first
time in the sport's history and mechanical failure the biggest fear.
The 2008 champion need only finish second, however, to claim the
title even if Rosberg wins.
 With Mercedes on course for a record 16 wins in a single season,
having already notched up an unprecedented 11 one-two finishes, that
looks entirely likely barring a nightmare retirement.
Red Bull's quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, last year's
winner, was fourth fastest as he gears up for a farewell to his team
before taking Alonso's place at Ferrari.
Britain's Jenson Button, who could be racing for the last time in
Formula One, was only 17th for McLaren after car troubles meant he
got in only eight laps.
"Great to see @MercedesAMGF1 have got a lot of competition here in
Abu Dhabi," he said sarcastically on Twitter as he watched
proceedings on the television monitors. "1.7 second gap!"
[to top of second column] |
Williams saw both cars of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas shed
bodywork in incidents that curtailed their running while the team
investigated.
The first session also saw less familiar names in action, with
Britain's Will Stevens slowest of all as he prepared for a race
debut with administrator-run Caterham.
The team had missed the last two races and have returned in the hope
of finding a buyer to keep them on the road.
Hong Kong Chinese racer Adderley Fong made his debut at a race
weekend for Sauber, completing 25 laps and ending up last but one.
France's Esteban Ocon was in Romain Grosjean's Lotus for the first
session and was 16th fastest.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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