Red Bull Formula 1 junior Niko Kari stole the fastest time late on to top the timesheets at the end of GP3 practice at Abu Dhabi.
The Arden driver was poised to finish third before setting a time of 1m55.796s to dislodge Trident’s Dorian Boccolacci from first position with his final lap, beating the Frenchman’s best by 0.069s.
Honda-backed Nirei Fukuzumi ended the session in third as the final driver who managed to lap in the 1m55s bracket.
Red Bull’s Dan Ticktum – who entered the paddock for the first time as a Macau Grand Prix winner – finished fourth above Mercedes protégé and 2017 champion George Russell.
Anthoine Hubert was sixth, with Raoul Hyman seventh and Leonardo Pulcini eighth.
Haas development driver Arjun Maini finished ninth, with Steijn Schothorst rounding out the top 10.
Ferrari academy racer – and son of ex-F1 race winner Jean – Giuliano Alesi was 13th, one place above Renault-backed Jack Aitken.
Julien Falchero, who spent time between GP3 rounds finishing the opening MRF Challenge races at Bahrain with top-six positions – was 19th.
Sauber development driver Tatiana Calderon completed the timesheets in 20th as she begun her first event since claiming her first podium of the year in the final round of the Formula V8 3.5 championship.
