Halfway through FP3 and this is the order of the top 10:

1) Hamilton 2) Raikkonen 3) Rosberg 4) Vettel 5) Ricciardo 6) Sainz 7) Perez 8) Massa 9) Verstappen 10) Hulkenberg

It would appear Fernando Alonso got out of his car to have a little massage.

The Spaniard must have had a bit of discomfort in his hand, and is currently having it rubbed.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Yas Marina

"One of the surprises of Friday was the sight of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in ninth. There have been McLarens in the top 10 in practice before this year, but on paper this looked especially impressive - Alonso was fifth fastest in the twisty final sector, where Honda’s engine deficit is least detrimental, and only a second off the pace. Alonso said this may have partly been due to the timing of his run, slightly later than others.

“‘Many things could be behind this,’ the Spaniard said. ‘One is probably the improvements on the car, they keep working and bringing us performance. Then maybe we put the super-soft tyres on at the best moment of the session, maybe later than the others. On Saturday we will not be ninth unfortunately, we will be a little bit worse than that. But I'm happy with the car today and happy with the progress.’

“Jenson Button was a second adrift, saying the cars were in different specifications as McLaren test for 2016, and pointed out that ‘the race is going to be very tough - our deployment is stopping really early on the straight’. This is a reference to the Honda running out of hybrid boost, depriving the car of 160-180bhp as soon as it happens. ‘You're sat there waiting for everyone to overtake,’ Button said.”

Eighteen drivers have set timed laps now, Daniel Ricciardo the latest to do so, going fifth fastest, while Lewis Hamilton has had a little spin. No drama as he quickly rights his Mercedes and cracks on.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso, after his latest improvement, is back in the McLaren garage and out of his car for the time being.

Where's Lewis Hamilton going with his first timed run? Straight into P1, that's where. 

The world champion edges out Kimi Raikkonen with a 1:43.078, a tenth of a second faster than Kimi Raikkonen, three tenths faster than Nico Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel slides off at Turn 1, losing his Ferrari under braking. 

"I semi spun," he says. "The tyres are still OK. I don't have any big vibrations."

Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have joined the party, Rosberg going second fastest with 1:43.415.

Max Verstappen bounces over one of the kerbs as he goes through Turns 11 and 12, sparks flying up from the rear of his Toro Rosso as he does so.

"The car is really tricky on the rear, it is always stepping out," he says over the radio.

Sebastian Vettel makes it a Ferrari one-two for now as he goes second fastest with 1:44.143, half a second down on his team-mate.

And Kimi Raikkonen is straight into P1 with his first timed lap, a 1:43.214 although the Finn, who is in a battle with his compatriot Valtteri Bottas for fourth place, isn't completely happy with his lap. 

"I struggled a bit on the last part of the circuit with the rear," he reports back to Ferrari.

Still no sign of either the Mercedes or the Red Bulls as Max Verstappen slots in sixth fastest with 1:44.704.  Twelve times on the board, but the Ferraris are on their first runs now with 45 minutes to go.

The times are coming down to something more representative now as Sergio Perez goes fastest with 1:44.306, edging Pastor Maldonado by just 0.069.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Yas Marina

“Mercedes have gone to the stewards asking for clarification on the rules regarding restrictions on research and development to do with aerodynamics. It sounds quite dry, but it’s a tense and emotive subject among the teams and it relates to the relationship between Ferrari and the US-based Haas team which is entering F1 next year. 

"There has been discontent all year about this, because Haas have been using the Ferrari wind tunnel to develop their car. Ferrari’s rivals believing the Italian team has been using the relationship to get around the restrictions on wind-tunnel usage by developing their own car when they claim Haas are using the tunnel. Mercedes have formally asked for clarity on what is allowed and a verdict is due some time this weekend.”

Several drivers are in no rush to get out, the Mercedes pair among them. 

Felipe Nasr gets things going with a 1:46.061 before Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens also getting in their first timed laps.