Nico Rosberg recovered from an embarrassing pit lane blunder to set the pace in the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
The in-form Williams man, who dominated the free practice sessions at the season’s opening two races, claimed his first top spot of the Shanghai weekend with a late super-soft tyre lap of 1m36.133s to outpace Toyota’s Jarno Trulli by 0.1s
Rosberg’s hour, however, started in less impressive fashion when the German repeated Lewis Hamilton’s mistake from the 2007 race by sliding into the now infamous pit lane gravel trap as he rounded the corner towards the service road following his installation lap.
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Fortunately for the Williams driver, however, his error came in far more recoverable circumstances and after a crane pulled his beached FW31 out of the gravel he was lapping quickly back on the circuit after 20 minutes. ITV
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was third best in Saturday’s practice, ahead of English compatriot Jenson Button of Brawn. Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. was unusually prominent at fifth on the timesheets, while Ferrari’s Felipe Massa sixth.
McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima rounded out the top eight. TSN.ca
While Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP completed the top 10.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, driving without KERS for the first time this season, managed to complete just six laps in his Renault, while Timo Glock suffered gearbox problems with his Toyota and also managed just six laps before returning to the pits. The Press Association
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