Nico ahead of Webber in final Malaysian practice

With the start of the third practice session at the Sepang circuit Albers, Ide and Monteiro would all take to the track. They were joined by Takuma Sato and Liuzzi. Just as quickly they would disappear back to the pits. Coulthard would take to the circuit, joined by Massa. Both these drivers have the luxury of a new
engine for this race. Trulli was next out, joined by team-mate Ralf Schumacher. With just under ten minutes of the session run there was yet to be a time posted.

The first drivers to set times were Massa and Coulthard. The Ferrari driver would go fastest with a time of 1m:37.44. Coulthard had a 1m:38.897. Trulli would move into second with a 1m:38.768. But David would move back ahead of the Toyota with a 1m:38.007. Monteiro, Albers and Speed were all out on the track as well.
Albers would set a time of 1m:43.268. Ralf was now in fourth with a 1m:38.652. Both the Honda's were now out. Monteiro would move ahead of his team-mate with a 1m:40.423. Speed was in seventh with a time of 1m:39.959. Both Renault's were out and it would be Alonso who would set the first time with a 1m:36.989 to move straight to the top of the times.

He would improve on that with a 1m:36.485. Fisichella was now in third with a 1m:37.523. Button was down in eighth with a 1m:39.286. We had yet to see either of the WilliamsF1, BMW Sauber F1, or McLaren cars. Trulli would improve his time with a 1m:37.850. Coulthard would return to the pits while Button would move into second with a 1m:37.352.

The first of the BMW cars was out, that of Jacques Villeneuve. He was joined by Klein and Raikkonen. At the top of the times it would be Fisichella who would move ahead of Alonso with a time of 1m:36.066. Barrichello was now in eighth. Villeneuve would set a new fastest first sector, 25.2. Klein was now in fifth
with a 1m:37.626. Kimi's first lap would see him in fourth with a time of 1m:27.255. But it would be Villeneuve who would pull out a quick lap seeing him move into second with a 1m:36.416. Team-mate Heidfeld was now out for his first laps.

With the top ten been Fisichella, Villeneuve, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Massa, Klien, Trulli, Coulthard and Speed we had still yet to see either of the WilliamsF1 cars. Michael Schumacher's first lap would see him in fifteenth with a time of 1m:39.615. Heidfeld's first lap would see him move into fourth but when Michael was to set the quickest time so far, a 1m:35.985, everyone would be pushed down one spot. Rosberg was now out for the first time in the session, with thirty five minutes remaining in the session.

In a sign of improvement for the Toyota team Ralf would move ahead of his brother with a time of 1m:35.040. Rosberg's first time would see him in fifteenth, 1m:37.936. On his next lap Nico would now be tenth, 1m:37.258. Fisichella, Button, Massa, Rosberg, Trulli, Monteiro, Albers and Montoya were the only drivers of the track. Mark Webber would finally complete his installation lap. Montoya's first lap would see him eighteenth. The top ten was Ralf Schumacher ahead of brother Michael, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Alonso, Heidfeld, Button, Massa, Raikkonen, and Rosberg. Mark's first lap would see him in twelfth with a 1m:37.394. Nico was now in eighth with a 1m:37.139.

A new fastest first sector for Klien. Montoya was down in nineteenth. In a surprise it would be Klien who would move to the top of the times with a 1m:34.815. Team-mate Coulthard was now in third with a 1m:35.639. At this time Nico and Mark were in tenth and fourteenth positions. With just over twenty minutes remaining Nico would move up to be seventh, 1m:36.452. But he was over 1.6 seconds slower than Klien. Mark was now in eleventh with a 1m:36.791.

Michael was now in third with a 1m:35.225 but Kimi would challenge Klien's time with a 1m:34.854 which would see him second. On his next lap Michael would move to the top of the times with a 1m:34.126. Michael's time was a massive 0.6 seconds ahead of Klien. Mark was now in sixth with a 1m:35.991. Nico was in ninth. Both the WilliamsF1 drivers would return to their pits. The top ten was Michael Schumacher, Klien, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Webber, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Rosberg, Alonso. Alonso would improve to now be
behind Coulthard in sixth, 1m:35.924.

With just over fifteen minutes remaining there would be a handful of cars on the circuit, with the others preparing to make their final runs prior to qualifying. Barrichello was in a very disappointing nineteenth place. He was joined by Trulli who was in seventeenth. It was very encouraging to see that the FW28 Cosworth
of Mark was up there with the quicker cars in the speed traps. Just goes to show that the independent Cosworth engine is performing as well as some of its more highly financed rivals.

Of the top drivers it would be Button who would make the first improvement with a 1m:34.616. Eight minutes remaining and the top ten was now Michael Schumacher, Button, Klien, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Alonso, Webber, Fisichella and Villeneuve. Barrichello was now in fourteenth, 1m:36.655. Montoya was in twentieth. The drivers would start to return to the circuit for their final runs, with five minutes remaining. This included both Mark and Nico. Montoya was now in fifteenth.

Alonso was on a quick lap with a new fastest first and second sectors. He would finish his lap in second, 1m:34.180, just 0.054 behind Michael. Nico was now in seventh with a 1m:35.242. Fisichella would show that the Renault's were a strong package by moving into third, 1:m34.585. So the top ten was Michael Schumacher from Alonso, Fisichella, Button, Klien, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Rosberg, Coulthard, and Trulli. With the end of the session Nico and Mark were in eighth and eleventh. Nico certainly is performing very well in comparison to his more experienced team-mate.