Rosberg fastest in final practice

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took second behind Rosberg, with Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren and Raikkonen's teammate Felipe Massa in fourth.

After an uneventful first 45 minutes, the session was halted with 14 minutes to go when Sebastian Vettel crashed his Toro Rosso heavily at the exit of Turn 9.

The young German got out of the car unaided, but his incident left a significant amount of debris for the marshals to clear up, and only six minutes remained on the clock when the action resumed.

That led to a frantic dash on the super-soft tyres, as the entire field (bar Vettel) took to the track to attempt qualifying simulations as soon as the green light came on at the pit exit.

But they were interrupted again when Vettel's teammate Sebastien Bourdais also crashed - damaging his Toro Rosso's suspension on the Turn 5 wall and parking on the grass next to the circuit.

Although there was no need for another stoppage, the yellow flags for Bourdais' stranded machine prevented any late improvements.

That meant Rosberg remained on top, having been quickest throughout the second half of the session. He twice swapped the top spot with Raikkonen as both completed their first runs after 20 minutes, before settling at the head of the timing screens with a 1:16.555 lap - 0.034 seconds faster than Raikkonen's best.

Hamilton was 0.170 seconds slower than Rosberg in third, ahead of Massa.

Kazuki Nakajima jumped up to fifth in the second Williams just before the yellows for Bourdais' crash emerged, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli also improving at the same time to earn sixth.

Heikki Kovalainen was only seventh for McLaren, while Renault's Nelson Piquet was an encouraging eighth despite a quick spin at Turn 8 mid-way through the session and then another rotation at the final chicane on his last lap. He narrowly missed the wall and escaped damage.

Behind ninth-placed Mark Webber (Red Bull), Vettel was able to hang on to 10th place despite his accident.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:16.555           16
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:16.589 + 0.034   22
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:16.725 + 0.170   17
 4.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:16.787 + 0.232   19
 5.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:16.898 + 0.343   16
 6.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:16.946 + 0.391   20
 7.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:16.952 + 0.397   16
 8.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:17.060 + 0.505   19
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:17.062 + 0.507   16
10.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:17.085 + 0.530   16
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:17.109 + 0.554   17
12.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:17.282 + 0.727   17
13.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:17.322 + 0.767   20
14.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:17.557 + 1.002   19
15.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:17.557 + 1.002   20
16.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:17.608 + 1.053   24
17.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:17.683 + 1.128   16
18.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:17.766 + 1.211   17
19.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:18.178 + 1.623   19
20.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:18.424 + 1.869   21

All timing unofficial