Abu Dhabi GP: Rosberg back on top in FP2 as Perez shines

The Briton had been quickest in the first session, but Rosberg posted the fastest time so far - 1:41.983 - to finish 0.138 seconds ahead of the world champion.

Both men used the supersoft tyres for their best runs.

Sergio Perez was a surprise third-fastest in the Force India, although over six tenths off the pace set by Rosberg.

The Mexican outpaced the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who completed the top five.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso was also surprisingly quick, posting the ninth-fastest time in the McLaren to finish behind Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

Pastor Maldonado was 10th for Lotus.

Unlike in the first session, drivers were quick to post their first timed laps, with Raikkonen setting the early pace after completing his first lap in the 1:43s as the night began to fall at Yas Marina.

Teammate Vettel, meanwhile, started his session by singing happy birthday to his race engineer Riccardo Adami over the radio.

Raikkonen did not stay up on top for long, though, as Rosberg went nearly seven tenths quicker in his first run, then improving even further to dip into the 1:42s for the first time this weekend.

Fifteen minutes in, Hamilton relegated his teammate to second after setting the quickest time in all three sectors to stop the clock at 1:42.524, over three tenths quicker than Rosberg at the time.

Raikkonen was the first driver to switch to the supersoft rubber before the half-hour mark, but the Ferrari driver failed to beat the Mercedes cars and had to settle for third position.

Vettel's first run on supersofts split the Mercedes duo, however, the German falling two tenths short of Hamilton's best. He was soon demoted to third by Ricciardo, also running with the softer compound.

The Mercedes duo were next to try the supersofts, and Rosberg became the first man to dive into the 1:41s, opening a six-tenth gap to Ricciardo.

Hamilton fell short in his run, lapping 0.138s slower than Rosberg.

A superb lap from Perez minutes later elevated the Force India driver to third, albeit still six tenths behind Rosberg.

The main incident of the session came with 30 minutes to go, when Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz was forced to stop his car due to an apparent engine problem.

Sainz, who had also suffered engine issues in FP1, had to watch the rest of the running from the sidelines.

Perez's day also came to an early finish after he suffered apparent brake problems with some 15 minutes left. 

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:41.983		39
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:42.121	+0.138	31
3	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:42.610	+0.627	23
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:42.647	+0.664	37
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:42.717	+0.734	35
6	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	1:42.798	+0.815	34
7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:42.849	+0.866	36
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:42.928	+0.945	35
9	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:42.955	+0.972	31
10	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team	1:43.431	+1.448	37
11	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:43.441	+1.458	32
12	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:43.506	+1.523	33
13	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:43.662	+1.679	40
14	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	1:43.854	+1.871	20
15	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team	1:43.929	+1.946	27
16	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:44.050	+2.067	32
17	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:44.116	+2.133	37
18	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:45.245	+3.262	28
19	Will Stevens	Manor	1:46.450	+4.467	35
20	Roberto Merhi	Manor	1:47.022	+5.039	27