Nico Rosberg edged title rival Lewis Hamilton in the third practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later on Saturday.
The Mercedes teammates were 1-2 in Friday’s practice runs, with Hamilton fastest in both of those, but this time the German driver turned the tables with a best lap of 1 minute, 41.424 seconds. Hamilton was 0.369 behind.
Brazilian driver Felipe Massa was third quickest for Williams, one second slower than Rosberg, while Fernando Alonso placed 1.229 behind in fourth as he prepares for his last race with Ferrari.
Four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel, who is replacing Alonso at Ferrari next season, clocked the fifth quickest time in his final weekend with Red Bull.
Red Bull placed a giant sticker on the garage floor which said “Danke Seb!” (“Thanks Seb!”) in recognition of his efforts.
Although Hamilton leads Rosberg 10-5 in race wins, his German teammate has earned 10 pole positions this season compared to seven for the Briton. Mercedes has been 1-2 on the grid in 17 of 18 races and has clinched three of the past four pole positions.
Massa briefly had the fastest time as the front-runners switched to super-soft tires, but Rosberg and Hamilton soon surged back into the top two.
On Thursday, Rosberg spoke optimistically about how he hoped a Williams car would lodge in between him and Hamilton on Sunday.
Alonso, meanwhile, went back to the garage early to get his engine changed.
The starting grid:
1st row: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
2nd row: Valtteri Bottas (Williams) and Felipe Massa (Williams).
3rd row: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).
4th row: Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Jenson Button (McLaren).
5th row: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari).
6th row: Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) and Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso).
7th row: Sergio Perez (Force India) and Nico Hulkenberg (Force India).
8th row: Adrian Sutil (Sauber) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus).
9th row: Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) and Pastor Maldonado (Lotus).
10th row: Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham).
