Rosberg will have to be counted on

The start of the session is very calm. Rubens Barrichello is the first driver to break the silence, but we have to wait almost a quarter of an hour and the entry of Timo Glock for the first time of the day to fall.

Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa then Jenson Button then follow one another at the top of the timesheet. There is still room for improvement, the drivers are gaining momentum little by little, all wearing hard tyres.

Jenson Button increases the pace, with a lap completed in 1:37:969. He launches the wave of improvements, mid-session. Nico Rosberg in 1?37??811 then Sebastian Vettel, in 1?37??735 respond to Button. Rosberg continues to improve. With a time of 1:37:490, the German leads at mid-session, ahead of Vettel, Button, Barrichello and Nakajima.

The top ten are in the pits. On track, Lewis Hamilton and Jarno Trulli take advantage of it. They move up to 4th and 8th position respectively.

Kimi Räikkönen is back on the track, wearing hard tires. The Finn took second place, immediately transformed into third place as Nick Heidfeld, the first driver to opt for soft tires, took control of the session, in 1:37:026.

It?s Jenson Button?s turn to start on soft tyres. The result was immediate and the Briton was back in the lead, in 1:36:541, while Mark Webber moved up to second place. Alert however for Button who returns to the pits, with light smoke escaping from his car.

There are ten minutes left and positions are still evolving. Robert Kubica goes second and Kovalainen 5th. At this moment, Button is first, ahead of Kubica, Webber, Heidfeld and Kubica.

Rubens Barrichello returns to the track, on soft tires. The Brazilian dislodges his teammate from the leading position. No time to savor, because in the process, Kimi Räikkönen does better. With a lap completed in 1:36:422, he took the lead.

One after the other, Felipe Massa then Nico Rosberg improved the best performance of the day. Everyone tries their luck at the end of the session. Aside from Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, all the drivers are on track for these last minutes of free practice.

Nico Rosberg retained his leadership in 1:35:940. The German thus finished first in five free practice sessions, out of six contested to date.

On his last lap, Mark Webber took second place. Felipe Massa is third, ahead of Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.