Nico Rosberg turns the tables on Lewis Hamilton

ByReuters

Updated 22/11/2014 at 14:13 GMT

Nico Rosberg turned the tables on Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton with the fastest lap in Saturday's final practice for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but the satisfaction was limited.

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - GP of Brazil 2014

Image credit: AFP

Rosberg needs to win on Sunday and hope championship leader Hamilton is out of the top two, but there was still no sign of a candidate stepping up to the plate with Mercedes again in a class of their own.

Hamilton was 0.369 of a second off Rosberg's pace, after leading both Friday sessions, while third placed Brazilian Felipe Massa was more than a second slower than the German in his Williams.

Rosberg's best lap was one minute 41.424 seconds.

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Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, preparing for his last race with the Italian team was fourth quickest on another hot afternoon at Yas Marina with his 2015 replacement Sebastian Vettel fifth for Red Bull.

Qualifying for the day-to-night race starts later with Rosberg, 17 points behind Hamilton but with double points on offer, chasing his 11th pole of the season.

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