Malaysian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton tops practice in Sepang

Date published : 02 Apr 2010 - 10:09:06

The 2008 world champion was fastest in the morning session on the Sepang circuit ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg, and again set the pace in the afternoon with a time of one minute 34.175 seconds. Hamilton clocked that time midway through the session to boost his confidence ahead of tomorrow's qualifying following a frustrating race in Australia last weekend.  Related ArticlesHamilton faith in McLarenF1 Podcast: Malaysian Grand PrixMalaysian F1 circuit guideHamilton fastest in practiceRed Bull keen to avoid slipping upAlonso: switch off now"It was probably the best feeling I have had in the car around this circuit," the 25-year-old said. "We have a good programme and we stuck to it. I am still trying to get an understanding of the tyres but generally it was a good feeling." Sebastian Vettel set the second fastest lap of 1:34.441secs after initially complaining of a problem with the power steering in his Red Bull. There were reliability woes for Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber though, as the Australian was forced to park his car in the gravel with less than 30 minutes of the session gone due to suspected engine failure. Rosberg set the third fastest time while reigning world champion Jenson Button was fourth. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher once again failed to get the better of Mercedes team-mate Rosberg as he took fifth. Australian GP runner-up Robert Kubica was sixth in his Renault while championship leader Fernando Alonso improved one place from the first session to go seventh fastest for Ferrari. Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, Vitaly Petrov of Renault and the Force India of Adrian Sutil rounded out the top 10. The Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa had opted to run with heavy fuel for the vast majority of the session and though the former improved to climb into the top 10 towards the end, Massa finished more than two seconds off the pace in 15th. The Lotus pair of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen were the quickest of this season's new teams as they took 18th and 19th place respectively. Virgin Racing duo Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi were 21st and 22nd while HRT will be happy to have enjoyed a trouble-free session, although Karun Chandhok was almost seven seconds off the pace in 23rd with team-mate Bruno Senna just behind in 24th. Rain continues to be a concern for Sunday with showers having fallen almost like clockwork around the time the race would be under way. It did stay dry throughout today's practice although once again the skies opened around an hour after the afternoon session had finished.