Rosberg on top for Williams, Massa strong…

As is becoming traditional this year, the final practice session ahead of qualifying brought more than a few surprises. However, as in Melbourne and Sepang, it remains to be seen how relevant the lap times and positions really are.

After dominating the Friday running, Felipe Massa had to be content with second position this morning in blustery Bahrain as Nico Rosberg set the practice pace with a best lap of 1:32.521s in his Toyota-powered Williams. In Friday practice Massa put in a stunning lap of 1:31.420s, so we know there is plenty of pace from the F2008 package not seen in this one hour session.

While Massa was unable to get close to his Friday pace, Rosberg picked up seven-tenths of a second to set the pace while Mark Webber placed his Red Bull Renault third on the timing sheets ahead of Jarno Trulli who vaulted up the order for Toyota on his final run.

Underlining the potential of the RB4 package at Sakhir, David Coulthard set the fifth fastest time just ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams Toyota. Over at BMW Sauber and the mixed weekend continued with Robert Kubica seventh fastest while Nick Heidfeld seems lost in terms of setup and was just 20th fastest of the 22 runners.

Nelson Piquet continued his strong weekend with the eighth fastest time in his Renault, five positions and nearly half a second clear of team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Kimi Raikkonen was just ninth fastest in the second Ferrari while McLaren Mercedes seem to be struggling a little with Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton just tenth and 18th fastest. A clearer picture should emerge in qualification.

Sebastien Bourdais led the way at Toro Rosso Ferrari with the 11th best time with Sebastian Vettel 17th. Giancarlo Fisichella was a solid 12th for Force India Ferrari, half a second clear of team-mate Adrian Sutil who was 19th fastest.

Of the remaining runners, Honda found themselves in the lower mid-field with Rubens Barrichello 14th and Jenson Button 16th, split by the second Toyota of Timo Glock. With Heidfeld 20th, the Super Aguri Honda duo of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato found themselves

5.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Massa, Rosberg, Williams    ▪ en.f1-live.com