Lewis Hamilton edged Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to go quickest by a tenth of a second in the first practice session for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton posted his best time an hour into the 90-minute session, logging a lap of 1:43.754 to slot into P1 ahead of Rosberg whose best was 0.141 down on the champion elect.

Kimi Räikkönen was third quickest for Ferrari, though the Finn ended the session seven tenths of a second adrift of Hamilton’s time. Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat was fourth, almost a full second behind Hamilton, while fifth-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Force India’s sixth-placed Nico Hulkenberg were the only other driver to get within a second of Hamilton’s benchmark.

Kvyat’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished in seventh place, ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Force India. Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado was the ninth quickest man and the top 10 order was completed by Williams’ Felipe Massa.

The session was incident-free but there was trouble for Lotus’ reserve Jolyon Palmer.

The Briton, who will race for the team in 2016, had been pencilled in for a full session in place of Romain Grosjean but with the team experiencing delays to its car build programme, Palmer was only able to take to track in the final 10 minutes of the session. He completed just eight laps for a best time of 1:46.501, more than two and half seconds off the P1 time.

2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:43.754 27
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:43.895 +0.141 31
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:44.500 +0.746 26
4 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:44.702 +0.948 23
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:44.742 +0.988 22
6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:44.751 +0.997 22
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:44.893 +1.139 25
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:44.934 +1.180 27
9 Pastor Maldonado Lotus F1 Team 1:45.314 +1.560 28
10 Felipe Massa Williams 1:45.433 +1.679 19
11 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:45.603 +1.849 22
12 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:45.718 +1.964 32
13 Jenson Button McLaren 1:45.773 +2.019 15
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:45.865 +2.111 20
15 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:46.115 +2.361 20
16 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:46.220 +2.466 21
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:46.407 +2.653 28
18 Jolyon Palmer Lotus F1 Team 1:46.501 +2.747 8
19 Will Stevens Manor 1:48.836 +5.082 19
20 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:49.888 +6.134 20