Hamilton concludes Sepang practice on top

The third and final practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix was held this morning in temperatures slightly higher than they were yesterday at the same time. Humidity had also risen up.

The teams followed their usual program, first doing an installation lap, checking the systems and then sending their drivers back on track. There was a brief lull before Petrov broke the silence and left the pits to start a first proper run. He was joined on track by several drivers including his Renault teammate Nick Heidfeld.

McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes didn’t wait too long before joining the fun. Hamilton swiftly moved at the front but was edged over by Heidfeld. The Briton retook the lead with his next lap. Button then took P2 to make it a McLaren one-two… only for Heidfeld to split them with his Renault.

In the meantime, Vettel’s first effort put him in fifth place. The Red Bull driver was very quick in the next lap and looked en route to lower the benchmark but felt his DRS wasn’t working properly and elected to pit.

Halfway through the session, Hamilton was leading from Heidfeld, Button, Petrov, Vettel and Alonso. The Spaniard then improved to move up a couple of places. As he improved even more to slot in 2nd position, his teammate Massa also climbed up the order and set the fastest time.

A second run on the hard tyre saw Vettel take top spot while Button took P2. Toro Rosso switched to the soft tyre early and placed both its cars in the top four. It was then Mercedes’ turn to take on the soft tyre. Schumacher moved up to P2 with his teammate Rosberg slotting right behind him.

With ten minutes to go, Alonso set a new benchmark in 1’37’’284. Massa quickly joined him at the front… but Red Bull and McLaren were yet to set a time with the soft tyre.

Button immediately jumped ahead and was nearly half a second faster than Alonso. Hamilton was even quicker and relegated the Ferrari almost a second behind. Mark Webber then popped up in P2 while his teammate improved to P5.

Hamilton concluded the session with the fastest time. He was leading from Webber, Button, Heidfeld, Vettel and Alonso.