Timo Glock moved Toyota to the top of the timing charts in final practice in Bahrain – but had to walk back to the pits after his car ground to a halt moments later.
Glock set a best time of 1m32.605s on a super-soft tyre run with eight minutes remaining, which kept him at the head of the pack until the chequered flag flew on the session.
Within three minutes of clocking that time, however, the German’s TF109 suddenly lost drive coming onto the back straight – indicating a possible electrical or hydraulic problem – and he had to pull off by the side of the circuit.
After a woeful Friday, Felipe Massa gave Ferrari some cause for hope by finishing second quickest, 0.123s adrift of Glock, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fifth in the other F60. ITV
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Nico Rosberg, previously out in front in seven of the 11 practice runs, also gave it his best shot, but was three tenths down in his Williams.
Lewis Hamilton, who on Friday vowed to stand up and be counted as world champion, led the way for a lengthy period until Glock’s hot charge. The McLaren driver eventually wound up fourth, 0.370secs adrift, closely followed by Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari in fifth. The Press Association
Nelson Piquet also showed a big improvement with sixth fastest time for Renault of 1m 33.176s, and Robert Kubica said he was happier with his BMW Sauber which he wheeled round in 1m 33.195s for seventh. Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima (1m 33.302s), Toyota’s Jarno Trulli (1m 33.397s) and BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld (1m 33.415s) completed the top 10. However, the times right down to Giancarlo Fisichella in 19th place on 1m 33.962s for Force India were so tight that tiny improvements could have yielded many places.
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Sebastian Vettel was 11th for Red Bull with 1m 33.443s, from McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen (1m 33.478s), Renault’s Fernando Alonso (1m 33.482s), Force India’s Adrian Sutil (1m 33.534s), the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello (1m 33.586s and 1m 33.686s respectively), Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso (1m 33.720s) and Mark Webber’s Red Bull (1m 33.726s). Formula 1
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