Right then, time for this session to get interesting. Williams' Felipe Massa is the first of the frontrunners to put on the super-soft tyres for his qualifying-simulation run.

The Brazilian is told to get straight into the run and do three timed laps.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Abu Dhabi

Image source, AFP

"Red Bull looked decently close to Mercedes on race pace on Friday but neither driver seemed to have much confidence they could challenge them, nor did they appear to have the inclination. 'I don't really want to interfere with Mercedes in the race,' said Sebastian Vettel (pictured).

"'It would be nice to race them and beat them, but I think realistically they are a bit far away.' Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, right behind Vettel in fifth place in second practice, said: 'Mercedes are … yeah I won't even mention them! But anyway, they're fighting for the title so we'll let them go, but as for the rest it looks pretty tight as always for third place.'"

Sydney River:, external Wonder what colour trousers Eddie & DC will be sporting this weekend? Where does one actually buy yellow or pink trousers?

Image source, Getty Images

If Nico Rosberg wins the title on Sunday, only two other drivers in the sport's history will have started more grands prix before winning their first World Championship.

Those two drivers are both British - Jenson Button (who won the 2009 world title after 169 starts) and Nigel Mansell (pictured, who triumphed in 1992 after 176 starts).

Matt: F1 needs Lewis to win this championship to make right the questionable decision on double points!! By far the superior driver.

It's a glorious day in Abu Dhabi, but it's worth noting that conditions will be significantly different by the time qualifying comes around.

The floodlights will be on, as darkness falls, and crucially, the track temperature will be much lower than it is now. It'll be much warmer than it is in the UK, mind.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Abu Dhabi

"There was a yawning chasm between Mercedes and the rest on Friday, but the expectation is that Williams will fill that on Saturday. They did not have the best of days. Cooling holes cut into the car's bodywork led to an unforeseen problem - a build up of pressure inside the bodywork that led to a sidepod being ripped off on Valtteri Bottas's car, an incident which would have been repeated with Felipe Massa had the Brazilian not spotted the beginnings of it and slowed down. That cost the team all of first practice, and in the second session neither driver was happy with his car. It was not, a Williams man grumbled, a good day."

Image source, Getty Images

Fernando Alonso's session is over, the Spaniard has changed into his civvies and is sat at the back of the garage, sunglasses on, obviously.

His Ferrari team have decided to change the engine, following yesterday's problems, but it's within his allocation so he won't get a penalty.

That said, the team are keen to save mileage ahead of tomorrow's race, hence his early finish in this session.

Lewis Hamilton can't beat his team-mate this time around, the Mercedes driver slotting into third 0.128 seconds off the pace.

Here's how they stand: 1) Ros 2) Alo 3) Ham 4) Bot 5) Mas 6) Vet 7) But 8) Rai 9) Kvy 10) Ric

Nico Rosberg goes fastest on the soft tyres with a 1:42.635, 0.018 seconds quicker than Fernando Alonso, who set his lap on the super-softs.

It's been a quiet session for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg so far, but they've both just headed out on the soft tyres. Thirty minutes gone, but 30 still remain.

Image source, Getty Images

Adrian Sutil, whose says he has a contract for next season even though his Sauber team have already announced the signing of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, has had a hugely disappointing season.

The German has the most retirements during 2014 with seven and is facing his first campaign without scoring a point since 2008.

Worse still for Sauber, the Swiss team are facing the first pointless season in their existence as an F1 constructor since making their debut back in 1993.

Sutil is currently 16th fastest, 2.9 seconds off the pace and three tenths slower than his team-mate Esteban Gutierrez.

Vivienne Marcheline:, external Its has to be Lewis!! No question! He earned it throughout the #F1 Season!! His reward is the #Champion

Matt:, external Rosberg pole, Lewis win.

Lisa Holmes:, external Depends if Mercedes let Lewis Hamilton down or Nico's dirty driving comes into play!! If all is fair, it's Hamilton's for sure!

Here's an interesting stat for you - the driver who tops this session has only taken pole position six times in 18 races so far this season.

Just six drivers have topped the times in FP3 - Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas.

Max Chilton is in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix paddock, perhaps hoping to do a deal to keep him in the sport next season. The Briton is without a drive after Marussia went into administration and subsequently folded.

Mercedes:, external Opening FP3 runs complete - no times set but all in working order. Feedback and setup tweakery before we let 'em at it...

Nice touch from Red Bull, who have placed a giant sticker on the garage floor to thank Sebastian Vettel for his efforts. The German, who is leaving the team for Ferrari at the end of the season, won four titles and 38 races with the team over a five-year period.

He's currently second quickest, eight tenths off the pace set by Fernando Alonso, who completed his lap of 1:42.653 on the faster super-soft tyres. That looks like it was his qualifying run.

Phil Slocombe:, external Lewis Hamilton looks unfazed by the fact this is the biggest race for the championship; he has put the pressure on Nico during FP 1& 2.

Image source, Gulf News

The final race of the season is understandably front-page news in the Gulf, with Gulf News carrying an interview, external with the BBC's David Coulthard, who believes Lewis Hamilton would be a deserving winner of the title because of his superior record (see 09:45 entry) to his rival and team-mate Nico Rosberg.

It is also the dominant story in a lot of the British newspapers, with the Independent asking if, external Lewis Hamilton will be Britain's unappreciated double world champion, while the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel says, external "Hamilton is cold and spiky, but that's why he is a winner".

Image source, Lotus

Lotus:, external Safe to say that it won't rain this session.