Abu Dhabi GP: Rosberg counting on Bottas's pace in title battle

Rosberg needs to win the 2014 F1 finale with Hamilton lower than second in order to snatch the crown.

But Mercedes dominated Friday practice with a massive 1.7-second cushion over the field in practice one and a 0.8s advantage in the evening session, leaving the chances of anyone interrupting their battle appearing remote.

Rosberg is optimistic that Williams's long-run performance is better than its single-lap times showed.

"We need to wait and see, because the Williams, for example, was actually looking pretty good at some points today," he said.

"Of course I'm hoping they're closer.

"The car feels good and the pace advantage seems to be there for sure at the moment, which is not necessarily a good thing because I need some help from someone else, but [Valtteri] Bottas is looking quick at times so we need to see where he really is."

Hamilton set the pace in both Friday sessions, with Rosberg 0.133s behind in the opening session before closing the gap to 0.083s later on.

"It's gone OK - not perfect. I haven't managed to get all my laps together properly," said Rosberg.

"But I'm optimistic because I'm sure I'm going to get it together for qualifying. I'll adjust some settings and fine-tune."

Championship leader Hamilton was thrilled with how his car performed on Friday, and reiterated that he had no intention of aiming for a safe second.

"The car feels very good. It's the best car I've ever driven here," he said.

"It's a remarkable job what Mercedes have done. To arrive at this track with this car and the gap to the others is a true showing of how amazing this team is.

"I want to win this weekend. I'm pushing to try to improve the car and I want to be at the front."