Some fine slow-mo action captures Jenson Button's wheelspin as he heads out of the pits.

With 20 minutes left, there's just a couple of drivers on the circuit at the moment to entertain the smattering of fans that have turned up for FP1.

Jenson Button, currently the 11th fastest driver, reports that he is struggling with lock ups. 

Its been a frustrating season for Button but a bit of positivity for him is that he looks set to finish ahead of McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso. He has five more points than the Spaniard.

Lewis Hamilton is back out and is flying, edging out Nico Rosberg at the top of the timesheet with 1:43.754, a tenth of a second faster than his team-mate.

With half-an-hour left, the rest of the top 10 looks like this: 3) Raikkonen 4) Kvyat 5) Ricciardo 6) Perez 7) Hulkenberg 8) Vettel 9) Verstappen 10) Maldonado

Ooops, a little moment there between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. 

Both approach Turn 8, but the faster Ferrari moves on the outside of the McLaren before cutting just in front of Alonso to take the corner. No danger of contact, but Alonso won't have liked to have seen that.

Eighteen drivers have got at least one timed lap under the belt, with Sebastian Vettel the latest to pop a time on the board, a 1:45.922 putting him P8.

With Jolyon Palmer not getting out in this session because of an earlier water leak, Felipe Nasr is the only driver left to clock a timed effort.

That's Palmer's Lotus with the water leak, by the way, not Palmer himself. I feel it is important to make that clarification.

This chap is staying put for now.

Fernando Alonso makes the most of that spell alone on the circuit by improving to eighth fastest with 1:46.181. 

He's got company now, with Nico Rosberg, Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen - who many of you are picking as your star of the season - getting back out on track.

After 10 minutes of silence, Fernando Alonso fancies heading out for a bit of alone time, sweeping around the circuit while the rest of the drivers stay in their respective garages.

We've been asking for your stars of the season, and Fernando Alonso is one of mine, if only for his hilariously frustrated radio messages. "GP2 engine, GP2 engine! Arghh" being one of my faves.

Williams chief technical officer Pat Symonds: "Second practice is more relevant because that is when we do more of the tyre work.

"There are some components on the cars in this session that we hope to introduce next year."

Just because this session isn't particularly important for this weekend's race doesn't mean you can totter off for a cup of tea or a mid-morning snooze. Plenty of reason to keep tabs, with some teams testing things out with one eye on 2016.

Half an hour gone and Nico Rosberg, who has improved with 1:43.895, leads the way as drivers head back in to hand back their first set of tyres.

Lewis Hamilton is P2, 0.1s behind and Kimi Raikkonen is third fastest, a second off Rosberg's pace.

Allan McNish
BBC Radio 5 live analyst

"Jolyon Palmer is going to be racing for Lotus in 2016 but his car is up on the stands right now. It had a water leak this morning when they fired it up, which unfortunately means it looks like he is going to be unable to get out for this session."  

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Yas Marina

“The long-running saga of Renault’s takeover of Lotus still rumbles on with no conclusion. The whole of F1 expects it to happen, but the deal is clearly not inked yet, as Lotus had yet another embarrassing episode here in Abu Dhabi. 

"A financial dispute with the organisers meant their freight was not transported from the airport to the track. This was eventually resolved on Thursday afternoon, giving the team two days’ less to prepare their cars for practice than their rivals. 

"It is the latest in a series of races in which similar events have happened this year - the result of unpaid bills of one kind or another. The takeover is expected to be completed any time soon, but there is clearly still something holding it up.”

Like that mate who turns up at the pub half an hour after they said they'd get there, Lotus left it late to make an appearance in the Yas Marina paddock, unpacking their stuff on Thursday - two days behind schedule.

However, unlike Dave (it's always Dave), Lotus had a valid excuse for their late showing.

Ongoing financial problems delayed their preparations for this weekend, but Bernie Ecclestone reportedly stepped in to save the day.

According to Autosport,, external an outstanding bill Lotus has relates to the circuit in Abu Dhabi, and Ecclestone has settled the debt to ensure they can take part in the season ender.