Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Saturday's prequalifying practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix followed by his McLaren teammate Jenson Button.

Hamilton clocked 1 minute, 42.130 seconds on the 5.6-kilometre Yas Marina circuit, 0.290 seconds quicker than Button.

Two-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel, who leads the drivers' championship, came in third after coming onto the track late with less than three minutes to spare and completing only two laps. Vettel's Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, who still has a mathematical chance of winning the title, was fourth.

Vettel's strongest rival for the title, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, only managed eighth. He has struggled all weekend with pace and a second late night for his engineers working on the car didn't seem to help.