McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in Friday morning's opening practice for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton extended his strong form from the latter part of the season, which had seen him qualify or finish in the top three at six of the past seven races.

With the majority of the field doing more than 20 laps to gather experience on the new Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton set a time of 1 minute 43.939 seconds to better Formula One champion Jenson Button of Brawn GP by a tenth of a second.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, ahead of Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello. They are fighting for second place in the championship, with Vettel two points ahead of the veteran Brazilian.

Less than three tenths of a second separated the top four, promising a tight race on Sunday.

BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld was fifth best and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi was sixth, ahead of Force India's Adrian Sutil and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Hamilton's McLaren excelled through the middle sector of the lap, which takes in the two long straights, while the Brawns and Red Bulls made up time in the twistier and more technical first and third sectors.

McLaren is eager to finish ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' championship. McLaren leads by one point.

The Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella - both entering their last race for the Italian team - were 15th and 18th, respectively.

The second practice session was scheduled for Friday afternoon.