Lewis Hamilton was beaten to top spot by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas on his return to action in Abu Dhabi.

The seven-time world champion was sidelined from last weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after he contracted coronavirus.

But following 10 days of quarantine in Bahrain and after returning a number of negative swabs, Hamilton was back in his world championship-winning cockpit for the final round of the Formula One season, finishing 0.203 seconds in second practice behind Bottas.

The 35-year-old temporarily went faster than Bottas only to see his speediest lap chalked off by the stewards after he exceeded track limits at the final corner.

It would appear a straight shootout for victory between the drivers of the sport’s all-conquering team with Max Verstappen, who had been fastest in first practice, a distant third in the later session, almost eight tenths of a second behind Bottas.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Alexander Albon was the only other driver to be within one second of Bottas’ best lap.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo, in his Renault, finished ninth in second practice.

There was drama late in the concluding action of the day as Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo caught on fire.

The 2007 world champion pulled off the track and coolly emerged from his cockpit before helping marshals to extinguish the flames.

The session was red-flagged for a dozen minutes as Raikkonen’s chargrilled car was moved to safety.

Hamilton flew in from Bahrain on Thursday, and was given the all-clear to participate after Abu Dhabi officials provided him with an exemption despite strict COVID-19 protocols.

In Hamilton’s absence at the penultimate round, George Russell had been handed the keys to his compatriot’s cockpit and finished ninth after he was robbed of victory twice – first following a Mercedes pit-stop howler and then a late puncture.

But after spending last weekend fighting at the front, it was back to reality for Russell in Abu Dhabi, after he finished 18th in his uncompetitive Williams, 2.5secs slower than Bottas.

Earlier, Mick Schumacher, who secured the Formula Two championship in Bahrain last weekend, was handed his grand prix debut in first practice.

The 21-year-old German is set to follow in the footsteps of his father Michael Schumacher by competing on a full-time basis with Haas in 2021.

He finished 18th of the 20 runners, almost four seconds off the pace.