Malaysia GP practice 3: Rosberg on top
 |
| Nico Rosberg |
Nico Rosberg looked set to challenge for pole position in qualifying for the Malaysian GP after topping the final session of free practice by 0.45s.
The long straights of the Sepang circuit appear to suit Mercedes' trick DRS-operated 'F-duct' and the silver arrows have constantly set the pace in the first sector, where straight-line speed is important.
The Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were second and third quickest, but only hundredths quicker than the Lotuses of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
Jenson Button sixth overall, just 0.05s clear of Pastor Maldonado's Williams.
Results
|
POS |
DRIVER | NATIONALITY | ENTRANT | TIME |
| 1. | Nico Rosberg | Germany | Mercedes GP | 1:36.877 |
| 2. | Sebastian Vettel | Germany | Red Bull-Renault | 1:37.320 |
| 3. | Mark Webber | Australia | Red Bull-Renault | 1:37.338 |
| 4. | Kimi Raikkonen | Finland | Lotus-Renault | 1:37.356 |
| 5. | Romain Grosjean | France | Lotus-Renault | 1:37.382 |
| 6. | Jenson Button | Britain | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:37.404 |
| 7. | Pastor Maldonado | Venezuela | Williams-Renault | 1:37.455 |
| 8. | Michael Schumacher | Germany | Mercedes GP | 1:37.663 |
| 9. | Lewis Hamilton | Britain | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:37.776 |
| 10. | Kamui Kobayashi | Japan | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37.977 |
| 11. | Bruno Senna | Brazil | Williams-Renault | 1:38.091 |
| 12. | Sergio Perez | Mexico | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:38.178 |
| 13. | Fernando Alonso | Spain | Ferrari | 1:38.246 |
| 14. | Nico Hulkenberg | Germany | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38.285 |
| 15. | Daniel Ricciardo | Australia | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:38.423 |
| 16. | Jean-Eric Vergne | France | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:38.640 |
| 17. | Paul di Resta | Britain | Force India-Mercedes | 1:38.794 |
| 18. | Felipe Massa | Brazil | Ferrari | 1:39.209 |
| 19. | Vitaly Petrov | Russia | Caterham-Renault | 1:39.704 |
| 20. | Heikki Kovalainen | Finland | Caterham-Renault | 1:40.189 |
| 21. | Charles Pic | France | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:41.901 |
| 22. | Timo Glock | Germany | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:42.007 |
| 23. | Pedro de la Rosa | Spain | HRT-Cosworth | 1:42.464 |
| 24. | Narain Karthikeyan | India | HRT-Cosworth | 1:43.378 |