How Abu Dhabi GP practice unfolded

Cheers for your stars of the season today, there's been some belters. Our latest mini-feature on some of this season's stars has just gone up and you can read it here.

We'll have more online over the course of the weekend, so keen an eye out for them. 

Yes, wipe away your tears, as that was indeed the final Friday practice session of the season, and once again it belonged to Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in first practice, with Nico Rosberg on top in the second.

1) Rosberg 2) Hamilton 3) Perez 4) Ricciardo 5) Vettel 6) Kvyat 7) Raikkonen 8) Hulkenberg 9) Alonso 10) Maldonado 

11) Bottas 12) Massa 13) Verstappen 14) Sainz 15) Grosjean 16) Button 17) Nasr 18) Ericsson 19) Stevens 20) Merhi

Even stevens between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, with the Ferrari man matching the Mercedes, just 0.1s between their latest efforts. 

Three minutes left.

Seven laps on Lewis Hamilton current stint on the soft tyres.

"What times am I supposed to be doing right now," he queries.

"A 1:47 is what we are looking at," is the reply.

The world champion's latest effort is a 1:47.880.

Eight minutes to go.

Oh you. You'll make him blush.

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Sergio Perez, who has the third fastest time, confirms a problem with brakes. I'm no mechanic, but his brakes being on fire is indeed a bit of a problem.

Quote Message: The wheel is still glowing red as Perez's Force India is pushed back into the garage, so some work to be done.

The wheel is still glowing red as Perez's Force India is pushed back into the garage, so some work to be done.

Sergio Perez runs wide at Turn 8 and there's some flames kicking out from his right rear wheel. He gingerly makes his way back to the pits as a result.

Its not all about the magic for Nico Rosberg.

"Right hand magic to off," he is told over team radio.

"We've discussed, I don't like it," he replies.

Magic is code for a switch on the steering wheel and it can be anything a driver wants it to be. Whatever it is, Rosberg is not a fan that's for sure.

Drivers are getting properly stuck into their long runs now. 

Pacesetter Nico Rosberg has done 14 laps on his set of supersofts tyres and is lapping in the 1.49s at the moment.

Sebastian Vettel heads in, switches to softs, and heads back out. His Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, stays out on the supersofts tyres.

Quote Message: We saw BBW, that is brake by wire. He stopped the car straight away.

We saw BBW, that is brake by wire. He stopped the car straight away.

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Carlos Sainz is parked in the run-off at Turn 7. Replays show that he suffered a problem and was immediately told to switch the engine off. 

He climbs out of the car and over the barrier and perches on top of a bench, chattiong with a couple of marshals.

The yellow flags are waved for the first time in the session and it is for the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz.

We're into long-run territory now so after the qualifying sims this is the top 10 with just over half an hour to go:

1) Rosberg 2) Hamilton 3) Perez 4) Ricciardo 5) Vettel 6) Kvyat 7) Raikkonen 8) Hulkenberg 9) Alonso 10) Maldonado

Talking about eyebrow-raising times, look at this from Fernando Alonso. His qualifying simulation run sees him put down a 1:42.955 and the McLaren is just one second off the pace of Mercedes.

Anyway, back to important matters. An eyebrow-raising lap from  Sergio Perez, 1:42.610 seeing him storm up to P3. Great effort. 

The entire field have made the switch to supersoft tyres now.

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Come to think of it, has anyone seen James Allen and Rick Asltey in the same room?

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Quote Message: Some people used to say I looked like Rick Astley when I was at school.

Some people used to say I looked like Rick Astley when I was at school.

As Mercedes' tweet a little earlier hinted at, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have indeed got their qualifying simulations under way. Rosberg improves with 1:41.983, a gain of 0.8s and he's into P1. Lewis Hamilton's first soft tyre run isn't as good, a 1:42.121, and he is P2.

A blast from the past in the paddock, with Rick Astley making an appearance. Those of a certain age will remember him well from his 80s classic "Never Gonna Give You Up". Younger followers might be more familiar with being "Rickrolled." 

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Sebastian Vettel comes round on his first qualifying sim run, sparks beautifully kicking up as he screams round a corner. 

He clocks 1:42.717, which faster than Nico Rosberg's best but not enough to knock Lewis Hamilton off top spot.

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Kimi Raikkonen's first run on the supersoft tyre is a 1:42.885, jumping him up to third in the standings. It is an improvement of 1.1s on his soft-tyre run, but still 0.3s slower than the Mercedes' timesheet topping times on the harder, slower tyre.

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Its an emotional weekend for Romain Grosjean, with it being his last race for Lotus before he departs for Haas and in the garage is a board with his stats for the team, as well as a fetching picture of him in long-hair days. Oh you guys.

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Quote Message: I want to give you an update on the Lotus front wing. The top one is the new one, see if you can spot the difference. You have a bulge on the nose and the one underneath is a simple rounded. There are also some other differences dotted around the front wing.

I want to give you an update on the Lotus front wing. The top one is the new one, see if you can spot the difference. You have a bulge on the nose and the one underneath is a simple rounded. There are also some other differences dotted around the front wing.

All the times so far have been set on the soft tyre, but Kimi Raikkonen is the first driver to switch to the supersoft compound and cracks on with his qualifying simulation.

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Its getting darker all the time and Felipe Massa opts to rip off the tinted tape on his visor, which has lost its use with no glare from the sun to worry about. 

He struggled a bit, part of it staying stuck onto his helmet, before finally fluttering off into the distance.

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Lewis Hamilton's time is 0.375s faster than Nico Rosberg's but he is promptly told there's an engine mode difference between the two Mercedes.

Nico Rosberg improves, his latest lap a second faster than Kimi Raikkonen. Moments later, Lewis Hamilton knocks his team-mate off top spot after a 1:42.524. The Mercedes flexing their muscles with a real show of pace.

The Mercedes have come out to play and Nico Rosberg goes fastest with 1:43.305, more than half a second faster than Kimi Raikkonen. 

Lewis Hamilton's first effort puts him in P4. He'd not been completely happy with his car in FP1 and its a similar story so far in this session. "I pulled the clutch and it didn't make a very nice noise," he says over the radio.

Kimi Raikkonen improves with 1:43.994 as Sebastian Vettel improves to get within three tenths of a second of his Ferrari team-mate.

Raikkonen is a former Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner, taking victory while at Lotus in 2012.

It was in that race that he produced one of the all-time great radio messages, snapping: "Leave me alone I know what I'm doing" and spawning a thousands internet memes as a result.

Mores times on the board now as Kimi Raikkonen goes fastest with 1:44.236, putting him ahead of Force India's Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

A lovely shot of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari glinting in the golden sunlight as it continues getting darker and, as a result, colder. 

Vettel swiftly gets things and up and running with a 1:45.009 before Will Stevens finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being right behind Vettel on the timing board. I say right behind, six seconds behind. He is the only other driver to clock a timed lap. 

Second practice gets under way to the sound of Sebastian Vettel, who is out on track, belting out a rendition of 'happy birthday to you' in Italian over the radio. As you do.

The brilliant blue skies and sunshine from earlier have gone in Abu Dhabi, with dusk starting to settle in. This is, of course, a twilight race. 

Second practice is under way.

What's this EJ is giving to Felipe Massa I wonder...

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Yes Daniel! Loving the pencil moustache on Ricciardo here, which makes him look like some suave 1940s film noire detective.

Wonder if it also gives him more front end grip?

Quote Message: I would say right now Valtteri Bottas has the upper hand on Kimi Raikkonen. It is a circuit Williams did well on last year and probably should have won the race.

I would say right now Valtteri Bottas has the upper hand on Kimi Raikkonen. It is a circuit Williams did well on last year and probably should have won the race.

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This morning we asked for your stars of the season. Max Verstappen was by far and away the most popular option, but we'd love to read a few more. 

Who, or what, has stood out for you in 2015? The groundhog in Canada?

Get involved via #bbcf1, text in on 81111 (UK only) or have your say on the BBC Sport Facebook page.

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“There’s not much up for grabs championship-wise at this final race of the season, with the drivers’ top three sewn up and the constructors’ top five as well. But nestling below Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel is an interesting little vignette - Williams driver Valtteri Bottas is after Brazil one point ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in fourth place. There is a bit of needle between the two Finns - albeit in a low-key, characteristically Nordic fashion - after their collisions in Russia and Mexico, both of which most in F1 feel were Raikkonen’s fault.

“Raikkonen has said that, while he will try for the best result, ‘it's not going to change our world’ whether he is fourth or fifth. But here in Abu Dhabi Bottas could not resist a bit of a dig: ‘It doesn’t matter if it’s Kimi or anyone else,’ he said, ‘but it would be nice to be ahead of one quicker car in the championship.’”

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Speaking of Lewis Hamilton, he's penned his latest column and in it he describes this year as the best of his career.

"It's the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi this weekend and, even after 18 races at the end of a long season, I feel fresh and excited about a special few days.

"My target is to win here, as it is at every race, and that's all I'm thinking about as the weekend starts.

"This has been without any doubt the best year of my career in terms of my driving and overall performance."

Read more here.

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It was first blood to Lewis Hamilton in first practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he finished fastest ahead of Nico Rosberg.

The session was largely uneventful but we should see things hot up in second practice, which gets under way at 13:00 GMT, as teams get properly stuck into setting up for the weekend.

Live coverage of that will be online and on BBC Red Button just before. In the meantime, you can watch FP1 highlights here.

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Quote Message: "I’m excited to be here in Abu Dhabi, with the 44th UAE National Day coming up and me being here to win that 44th race It’s cool how it all ties in." from Lewis Hamilton

"I’m excited to be here in Abu Dhabi, with the 44th UAE National Day coming up and me being here to win that 44th race It’s cool how it all ties in."

Twitter/Tobias GrünerCopyright: Twitter/Tobias Grüner

Looming over the circuit in Abu Dhabi this week is a giant 44.

There's similar scenes throughout Abu Dhabi, but that's not in recognition of Lewis Hamilton, who's car number is 44, but rather United Arab Emirates' upcoming 44th National Day.

Amazingly, Hamilton is also going for his 44th grand prix win this weekend. Coincidence? Likely, but just maybe a Hamilton win is written in the stars...

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Familiar stuff at the top of the timesheet then as Lewis Hamilton leads from Nico Rosberg. 

FP1 is deceptive, though, with work done in it more with an eye on 2016 rather than this weekend.

Second practice, however, should give us more of an idea. We'll be back at 12:30 GMT. I'll leave you with Andrew Benson's report from Abu Dhabi and see you in a little under two hours.

Keep you stars of the season coming to #bbcf1

1) Hamilton 2) Rosberg 3) Raikkonen 4) Kvyat 5) Vettel 6) Hulkenberg 7) Ricciardo 8) Perez 9) Maldonado 10) Massa 

11) Bottas 12) Verstappen 13) Button 14) Alonso 15) Nasr 16) Sainz 17) Ericsson 18) Palmer 19) Stevens 20) Merhi

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Fernando Alonso needs the crew from Star Trek.

"I have no power," he reports over team radio.

Sadly, there is no Scotty to come to Alonso's aid and instead he has to complete the all too familiar limp back to the pits.

One minute left.

"The car's not feeling good," says the man who currently tops of the timesheet - Lewis Hamilton.

He's not been completely happy throughout, having complained of his seat position early on.

Jolyon Palmer is keen to rack up the laps, perhaps a little too keen as he spins at Turn 18. He swiftly swings himself back round the right way and gets going again.

He has clocked a timed lap, a 1:47.552, the 18th fastest of the day.

Nico Rosberg has been the busiest driver of the session with 29 laps under the belt, but he might well be done for the day now.

"Box, box, box we have low left rear pressure," he is told. 

Five minutes left.

...he's checking it twice.

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No time to remove the helmet for Sebastian Vettel, who scribbles down a few notes before heading back out.

A very studious driver. He's currently eighth fastest with 1:45.076.

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Slightly different Williams livery to what we've seen this season, with Martini branding removed. No alcohol sponsorship allowed to be on show in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile, we were told earlier than Jolyon Palmer won't be getting back out in this session. Well, he is. Lotus have patched up that water leak and he's got 10 minutes to get a few laps under his belt.

Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!

Nico Rosberg's race engineer relays a bit of technical info over the radio to the German.

"Not a great place to tell me," Rosberg snaps back.

"Ok copy, copy," is the quick, slightly embarrassed reply.

Rosberg is still second fastest, a tenth of a second down on Lewis Hamilton.

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Some fine slow-mo action captures Jenson Button's wheelspin as he heads out of the pits.

With 20 minutes left, there's just a couple of drivers on the circuit at the moment to entertain the smattering of fans that have turned up for FP1.

Jenson Button, currently the 11th fastest driver, reports that he is struggling with lock ups. 

Its been a frustrating season for Button but a bit of positivity for him is that he looks set to finish ahead of McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso. He has five more points than the Spaniard.

Lewis Hamilton is back out and is flying, edging out Nico Rosberg at the top of the timesheet with 1:43.754, a tenth of a second faster than his team-mate.

With half-an-hour left, the rest of the top 10 looks like this: 3) Raikkonen 4) Kvyat 5) Ricciardo 6) Perez 7) Hulkenberg 8) Vettel 9) Verstappen 10) Maldonado

Ooops, a little moment there between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. 

Both approach Turn 8, but the faster Ferrari moves on the outside of the McLaren before cutting just in front of Alonso to take the corner. No danger of contact, but Alonso won't have liked to have seen that.

Eighteen drivers have got at least one timed lap under the belt, with Sebastian Vettel the latest to pop a time on the board, a 1:45.922 putting him P8.

With Jolyon Palmer not getting out in this session because of an earlier water leak, Felipe Nasr is the only driver left to clock a timed effort.

That's Palmer's Lotus with the water leak, by the way, not Palmer himself. I feel it is important to make that clarification.

This chap is staying put for now.

Fernando Alonso makes the most of that spell alone on the circuit by improving to eighth fastest with 1:46.181. 

He's got company now, with Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen - who many of you are picking as your star of the season - getting back out on track.

After 10 minutes of silence, Fernando Alonso fancies heading out for a bit of alone time, sweeping around the circuit while the rest of the drivers stay in their respective garages.

We've been asking for your stars of the season, and Fernando Alonso is one of mine, if only for his hilariously frustrated radio messages. "GP2 engine, GP2 engine! Arghh" being one of my faves.

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Williams chief technical officer Pat Symonds: "Second practice is more relevant because that is when we do more of the tyre work.

"There are some components on the cars in this session that we hope to introduce next year."

Just because this session isn't particularly important for this weekend's race doesn't mean you can totter off for a cup of tea or a mid-morning snooze. Plenty of reason to keep tabs, with some teams testing things out with one eye on 2016.

Half an hour gone and Nico Rosberg, who has improved with 1:43.895, leads the way as drivers head back in to hand back their first set of tyres.

Lewis Hamilton is P2, 0.1s behind and Kimi Raikkonen is third fastest, a second off Rosberg's pace.

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"Jolyon Palmer is going to be racing for Lotus in 2016 but his car is up on the stands right now. It had a water leak this morning when they fired it up, which unfortunately means it looks like he is going to be unable to get out for this session."  

“The long-running saga of Renault’s takeover of Lotus still rumbles on with no conclusion. The whole of F1 expects it to happen, but the deal is clearly not inked yet, as Lotus had yet another embarrassing episode here in Abu Dhabi. 

"A financial dispute with the organisers meant their freight was not transported from the airport to the track. This was eventually resolved on Thursday afternoon, giving the team two days’ less to prepare their cars for practice than their rivals. 

"It is the latest in a series of races in which similar events have happened this year - the result of unpaid bills of one kind or another. The takeover is expected to be completed any time soon, but there is clearly still something holding it up.”

Like that mate who turns up at the pub half an hour after they said they'd get there, Lotus left it late to make an appearance in the Yas Marina paddock, unpacking their stuff on Thursday - two days behind schedule.

However, unlike Dave (it's always Dave), Lotus had a valid excuse for their late showing.

Ongoing financial problems delayed their preparations for this weekend, but Bernie Ecclestone reportedly stepped in to save the day.

According to Autosport, an outstanding bill Lotus has relates to the circuit in Abu Dhabi, and Ecclestone has settled the debt to ensure they can take part in the season ender.

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An impressive display of wealth in waters close to the circuit, with humongous yachts having moored up in the Marina. 

I watched a programme last night about some yachts in Monaco and the size of them is ridiculous, gyms and cinemas on some of them. 

How the other half live.

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“The 2015 season is nearly over and still there is no announcement from Red Bull about which engines they will have in their car. In fact, on the face of it, owner Dietrich Mateschitz has even seemed to imply in recent days that there remained doubt even over the team’s participation next year, saying he ‘cannot give a definitive answer’ and that ‘at some point even we have had enough’ of the saga.

“Somewhere along the line, though, messages are getting mixed at Red Bull, because team principal Christian Horner continues to insist that the team will be in F1 next year and it is an open secret that they will continue with Renault engines, despite the fact that the relationship between the two partners almost collapsed totally earlier this year.

“Red Bull have reverted this weekend to the previous spec Renault engine after what was called the ‘D-spec’ upgrade proved to have less power in Brazil at the last race. Daniel Ricciardo, the guinea pig in Brazil, said it was a sensible choice and observed about Renault’s hopes of being able to compete with Mercedes ”

Daniil Kvyat was the first out this morning, but has yet to complete a timed lap, one of six drivers to do so, Kvyat's Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo one of them. 

Nico Rosberg swiftly improves with a 1:44.102, Lewis Hamilton's then slots in P2 with his first timed effort, 1.8s slower than his team-mate.

It seems Hamilton is not feeling completely happy in his cockpit in the moment, having complained of his seating position feeling a bit raised.

Several other drivers have completed timed laps now, with Sergio Perez (1:45.822) the best of the rest.

Almost 15 minutes into the session and Nico Rosberg puts down the first timed lap.

An early sighter, as he clocks 1:55.130. For a comparison, the fastest lap in this session last year was 1:43.4, set by Lewis Hamilton.

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Speaking of Kimi Raikkonen, he is battling it out with Valtteri Bottas to be the highest-placed Finn this season.

Raikkonen has admitted he has been "pretty average" this season, with the 2007 world champion 131 points behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

"Must do better" will be the words on Raikkonen's end of term report.

Interesting addition on Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. Two lights under his car by the rear tyres. Like it. 

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“Lewis Hamilton’s back-to-back titles with Mercedes have come about because he made the momentous decision to leave McLaren at the end of 2012. There are various theories as to why Hamilton made that call. Hamilton says he was convinced by non-executive chairman Niki Lauda and then-team boss Ross Brawn of Mercedes’ future potential; Jenson Button, Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate at the time, says it was an emotional decision made after he retired from the lead of the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix with gearbox failure. There may well be an element of truth in both of those views.

“What is certain, however, is that part of Hamilton’s decision was a desire to remove himself from the controlling - some would say suffocating - influence of McLaren boss Ron Dennis. And this week Dennis has given a good example of why. Accepting an award from the Marketing Society, Dennis expressed his dim views of Hamilton’s globetrotting celebrity lifestyle: ‘If he was at McLaren he wouldn’t be behaving the way he is because he wouldn’t be allowed to... He's shaking off some chains he didn’t want to have.’

“Dennis added: ‘I look at him with mixed emotions. It was an interesting experience for everybody and it wasn’t completely smooth and harmonious, and I don’t approve of everything he does or says. But nevertheless great athletes are great because of the sacrifices they have to make. And sometimes sacrifices are in a very formative part of their childhood - they don’t always emerge with the all the right social process or behaviour or tendencies that you like.’

“More than a few in the paddock would suggest Dennis was somewhat lacking in self-awareness in those remarks.”

Off we go then. Green light on and Daniil Kvyat leads a train of cars out onto the circuit for the final first practice of the season.

Couple of driver changes to tell you about, with Jolyon Palmer in Romain Grosjean's Lotus for FP1.

Meanwhile, Roberto Merhi is back in the Manor for the entire weekend, with Alexander Rossi racing in GP2.

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Brilliant, bright sunshine in Abu Dhabi. Glorious day.

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Up and running with live pictures and coverage on BBC Two, and on this page. Get on it.

“More on the Mercedes drivers and their intra-team battle. 

"Nico Rosberg made it clear that while the results in these final races have no bearing on this year’s championship, they could well do for next year. 

"‘The rules are staying the same for next year so whatever we learn this year applies for next year,’ Rosberg said. ‘That’s not my priority - I want to win the race. But if I do well this year it can’t but help for next year so it does come into it. And over the winter the new car a lot of things change. Not a complete reset but partial.’"

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Right, (semi) serious business. 

You may or may not have noticed that dotted around the F1 section of our website have been some pieces on the stars of the season.

So far we've had the Nico Rosberg and his cap-gate cap and Sebastian Vettel, for his cheeky teasing of both Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and his all round impressive performances as 'the best of the rest'.

We reckon you lot can do better. So who, or what, has been the star of the season for you, and why? The quirkier the better! 

Get involved via #bbcf1, text in on 81111 (UK only) or post your star of the season on the BBC Sport Facebook page.

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Unlike last year, there's no world championship to be decided in Abu Dhabi, meaning it all feels a bit like the last day of school before the summer holidays. Great days. Non uniform, big telly getting wheeled into the classroom and everyone bringing in a board game (very much pre-handheld computer games here) with them.

If wonder if the F1 lot brought some into the paddock today. I reckon Kimi Raikkonen loves a bit of Twister...

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Right then, for the final time in 2015, here is what we have coming up for Friday practice.

09:00-10:30 GMT: First practice (live on BBC Two from 08:55 and online)

13:00-14:30 GMT: Second practice (live on BBC Red Button and online) 

"The accumulation of actual points by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg this year has been meaningless since Hamilton clinched the title in Austin three races ago, but the metaphorical points scoring between them continues apace. 

"After Rosberg’s victory in Brazil two weeks ago, Hamilton mentioned a change to the car that had affected his feelings for the limit and here in Yas Marina he has mentioned it again - without being specific about what it is. 

"Rosberg says he is ‘not really sure what he’s referring to’ but ascribes it to the natural swings of competitiveness between them: ‘I am the one who has the little bit of the upper hand and that’s it.’ 

"It’s about nothing but pride any more, but with 2016 already in their minds, don’t think it doesn’t matter. It really does.”

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If only Nico Rosberg had shown the sort of form he has in the last few races earlier in this season, we might well have had a much closer season than we've ultimately seen.

After Lewis Hamilton wrapped up the title in Austin at the end of October, Nico Rosberg has converted pole into victory in each of the last two races.

He's had his fill, his share of losing, and is clearly determined to end the year in style.

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...and so we face the final curtain.

After 18 races, nine months and several Pastor Maldonado crashes we are here, the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The title may well have been long since wrapped up but that doesn't mean there is nothing to play for this weekend. 

For some there's points, for others there is pride and for almost everyone it is the chance to flex their muscles and hint at what might be to come in 2016...