Raikkonen fastest in practice 3 - Europe

The Ferrari driver was the first of the leading contenders to take to the track and held the top spot for the majority of the hour.

With 20 minutes remaining, Fernando Alonso produced a 1:32.039 lap in his McLaren to beat Raikkonen by 0.065 seconds, but this was swiftly beaten when the field switched to soft tyres for the final scramble in the last five minutes.

Again Raikkonen was the first of the top four drivers to set a time on softs, and immediately retook first place by 0.643 seconds, lapping in 1:31.396.

Lewis Hamilton improved to second for McLaren, 0.231 seconds behind Raikkonen, and four tenths of a second clear of teammate Alonso.

Before the soft tyre runs, the title contending quartet had been in a class of their own - covered by just two tenths of a second, and with everyone from fifth place back a second or more slower.

But BMW's Robert Kubica managed to infiltrate the top four with his final run, equalling Alonso's time and being classified fourth.

He pushed Felipe Massa down to fifth, as the Ferrari driver made an error on his soft tyre lap.

Williams were strong throughout the session and Nico Rosberg ended the hour sixth, ahead of Kubica's teammate Nick Heidfeld.

The Red Bulls of Mark Webber and David Coulthard were next up, with Ralf Schumacher's Toyota completing the top ten.

It was another low key session for reigning champions Renault, as Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen only managed 16th and 18th places respectively.

The Finnish rookie missed the final quarter of an hour after slowing suddenly with a mechanical problem and having to cruise back to the pits.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time              Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:31.396           18
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:31.627 + 0.231   12
 3.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:32.039 + 0.643   11
 4.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)  1:32.039 + 0.643   18
 5.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:32.217 + 0.821   18
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:32.344 + 0.948   16
 7.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)  1:32.581 + 1.185   20
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:32.632 + 1.236   16
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:32.679 + 1.283   18
10.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:32.788 + 1.392   21
11.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:32.841 + 1.445   20
12.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:32.869 + 1.473   18
13.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:32.936 + 1.540   20
14.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:32.974 + 1.578   14
15.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:33.154 + 1.758   16
16.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)  1:33.214 + 1.818   17
17.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:33.229 + 1.833   19
18.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:33.484 + 2.088   13
19.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:33.792 + 2.396   20
20.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:33.945 + 2.549   19
21.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:34.423 + 3.027   20
22.  Winkelhock    Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:36.090 + 4.694   19

All timing unofficial