FP3: Rosberg back on top

Nico Rosberg had the edge over Lewis Hamilton throughout Saturday's final practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The German driver set the pace on the hard tyres early in the session and retained that position when all 20 drivers swapped to the faster medium tyres.

Lowering the benchmark to a 1:39.690, Rosberg beat Hamilton by 0.183s.

The reigning World Champion, though, was not comfortable in his W06, on several occasions locking up at Turn 9 while led to him complaining about the car's brakes.

Mercedes made a few changes and Hamilton was able to put in a clean lap but it was slower than his team-mates.

Ferrari were third and fourth with Kimi Raikkonen narrowly pipping Sebastian Vettel. Both half a second behind Rosberg, they were separated by 0.02s.

The Williams were next in line with Felipe Massa ahead of Valtteri Bottas and again it was a close battle. Massa's 1:40.391 a slim 0.015s up on his team-mate's best.

Daniel Ricciardo was seventh ahead of the Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen while Marcus Ericsson completed the top ten.

On another extremely hot and humid day at the Sepang circuit, Fernando Alonso was P15, 2.3s down, while Jenson Button was P18, a further 0.3s off the pace.

Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:39.690 13 laps
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:39.874 0.184 10 laps
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:40.245 0.555 9 laps
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:40.266 0.576 13 laps
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:40.391 0.701 14 laps
6 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:40.406 0.716 15 laps
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:40.590 0.900 19 laps
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:40.601 0.911 19 laps
9 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:40.989 1.299 18 laps
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:41.200 1.510 19 laps
11 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:41.206 1.516 16 laps
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:41.592 1.902 18 laps
13 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:41.776 2.086 14 laps
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:41.804 2.114 15 laps
15 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:41.991 2.301 13 laps
16 Sergio Perez Force India 1:42.100 2.410 14 laps
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:42.117 2.427 18 laps
18 Jenson Button  McLaren 1:42.319 2.629 13 laps
19 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:46.647 6.957 9 laps
20 Will Stevens Manor 1:47.059 7.369 6 laps