Nico Rosberg regained the initiative over Lewis Hamilton in another Mercedes 1-2 ahead of qualifying in the final practice session of the season.
The German was the first driver to set a sub 1:42 lap time on the red-marked supersofts, three-tenths clear of championship rival and team-mate Hamilton in second in the afternoon session at the Yas Marina circuit.
Warmer track conditions with a maximum of 4o degrees in the session brought about difficulties for drivers making final setup adjustments as qualifying in the twilight traditionally takes place in cooler temperatures.
Mercedes continued to hold a comprehensive advantage over the rest of the field as Felipe Massa in third was over a second behind Rosberg’s benchmark time, with Fernando Alonso following behind in fourth after spending the vast majority of the session recovering from his setbacks in both Friday sessions. Sebastian Vettel was again the leading Red Bull in fifth.
Sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth was separated by as little as 0.041 seconds, the spots being occupied by Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and Daniil Kvyat respectively. While Kimi Raikkonen was a slightly distant tenth, being over two tenths behind Kvyat’s Toro Rosso.
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’41.424 | 19 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’41.793 | 0.369 | 17 |
| 3 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’42.429 | 1.005 | 18 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’42.653 | 1.229 | 8 |
| 5 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1’42.679 | 1.255 | 19 |
| 6 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’42.768 | 1.344 | 20 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’42.773 | 1.349 | 14 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’42.794 | 1.370 | 19 |
| 9 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’42.809 | 1.385 | 20 |
| 10 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’43.038 | 1.614 | 14 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1’43.112 | 1.688 | 13 |
| 12 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1’43.352 | 1.928 | 20 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’43.360 | 1.936 | 19 |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1’43.501 | 2.077 | 18 |
| 15 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1’43.643 | 2.219 | 24 |
| 16 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1’43.718 | 2.294 | 17 |
| 17 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1’43.778 | 2.354 | 18 |
| 18 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1’44.022 | 2.598 | 22 |
| 19 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham | 1’45.044 | 3.620 | 16 |
| 20 | 46 | Will Stevens | Caterham | 1’45.959 | 4.535 | 21 |
