Vettel fastest at Abu Dhabi; Hamilton ahead of Rosberg

While they have nine wins each so far, Hamilton’s year has been more heavily affected by reliability problems – including three engine failures while Rosberg has had none in competition. Hamilton was quickly out and back on top in Q2 with an improved lap in 1:39.382.

He was seen as the antithesis to Senna and sees this juxtaposition somewhat reflected in the Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry. When the Mercedes went in, Hamilton set a time of 1m39.487s to kick things off with Rosberg slotting in second after coming in short by 1.024s.

“Tomorrow is going to be hard, it has been already, to give them support when they need it, not interfere too much or over-manage but just let them fight it out on track”, Wolff said.

He added: “I am sitting on pole here right now. I have great memories from winning at this track previous year and it’s somewhere I’ve usually been strong in the past, so I have every reason to feel confident”.

“It’s been odd coming here this weekend knowing it’s the last one with this great auto”. It’s a dream for any driver to have something this good to drive.

“Obviously it worked. This evening, tomorrow, we’ll sit and work with my engineers, my strategists to fully understand each scenario and what I have to do”.

Yas Island attractions also hosting events and staging special offers across Race Weekend for ticket holders and non-ticketholders alike include Yas Marina, Yas Links, Yas Beach, Yas Mall and Cascade Dining. You need a big pace delta to overtake here, so the start will be crucial.

Former F1 tester Bas Leinders has said that he thinks Lewis Hamilton lost focus earlier in 2016.

Hamilton said his performance in taking a stunning pole position by 0.303 seconds had been “as good” as any this year. But Lewis did a great job and was just a few tenths quicker.

“I’m proud of my season”, Rosberg said. “I have everything to gain tomorrow.super-excited about it”. “I’ve had a great week, relaxing and catching up with my family and friends, so I feel like I’m in a good place. Why shouldn’t I? I want to finish the season on a high with a win”.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified in third behind Rosberg, and starts on the second row with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen will follow in the third row. “I felt good out there and had a good balance and got a good lap in the end but it wasn’t enough”. Otherwise, the rest of the lap I had it really under control, just making sure to maximise these areas. “That would be a little bit different in terms of pressure”. We’ll see about the strategy.

The Briton, who will end the season with more victories – should he win tomorrow – and a greater number of pole positions than Rosberg, has already dismissed the idea that he will get involved in such a tactic. Kevin Magnussen, in his last race weekend for Renault finished in 18th.