Heidfeld quickest in Sepang

Nick Heidfeld was the surprise name at the top of the timesheet after the BMW Sauber driver went quickest during final practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

With the two Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren proving the dominant force yesterday, the German's time of one minute 35.019 seconds outpaced them all at Sepang ahead of qualifying for the second race of the season.

Raikkonen finished second, over two tenths of a second down on Heidfeld, and Massa third but Hamilton had a low-key outing, ending the hour-long session down in 11th, and trailing by 0.908 seconds.

Raikkonen set the early pace with a time of 1min 35.886secs before knocking a further tenth of a second off that mark, while team-mate Massa kept in touch in second.

The Brazilian then hit the front with a lap of 1:35.513 before lowering that by a tenth with Raikkonen nearly two tenths back.

Hamilton ran wide at turn eight as he struggled to set a competitive time before Heidfeld, looking to build on his second place in Australia last Sunday, went top with minutes remaining ahead of Raikkonen, who set a time of 1:35.262 and Massa, who was a further tenth back from his team-mate.

Jarno Trulli was fourth in the Toyota, while Red Bull duo Mark Webber and David Coulthard put yesterday's troubles behind them by finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

Nelson Piquet was seventh for Renault while Jenson Button, who played down expectations yesterday, finished eighth in his Honda.