• Hamilton qualifies ahead of his team-mate for Sunday’s F1 title decider • British driver three-tenths quicker than his Mercedes colleague

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Lewis Hamilton won Formula One’s last qualifying session of the season here on Saturday, beating his title rival Nico Rosberg into second place.

Hamilton was three-tenths quicker as he finished the qualifying season with a 12-8 advantage over his Mercedes team-mate.

The result confirmed Hamilton as favourite to win Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. But Rosberg is still well placed to finish in the top three, and with a 12-point lead in the championship that is all he needs.

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Hamilton was given a boost in Q1, when he was fastest while Rosberg was back in fifth. Behind the Mercedes on the grid will be Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, then the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, followed by Max Verstappen in the other Red Bull.

In what is assumed to be his final F1 race weekend, McLaren’s Jenson Button did not make it to the top 10 Q3 shootout.

Final times after qualifying

1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes GP 1mins 38.755sec, 2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:39.058, 3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:39.589, 4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:39.604, 5 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:39.661, 6 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:39.818, 7 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:40.501, 8 Sergio Pérez (Mex) Force India 1:40.519, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:41.106, 10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:41.213, 11 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:41.084, 12 Jenson Button (GB) McLaren 1:41.272, 13 Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex) Haas F1 1:41.480, 14 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:41.564, 15 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:41.820, 16 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing 1:41.995, 17 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.003, 18 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault 1:42.142, 19 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:42.247, 20 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Manor Racing 1:42.286, 21 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.393, 22 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:42.637