Heidfeld tops the times in Monza test

The German, who has been told by his BMW Sauber team to lift his game in order to secure a new deal for 2009, set a best time of 1:22.621 as he focused on set-up work in preparation for the Italian Grand Prix next month.

Heidfeld finished ahead of Williams's Nico Rosberg, the German completing 100 laps.

Heidfeld and Rosberg were the only two drivers who managed to lap the Italian track in less than 83 seconds, with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen third quickest but already in the 1:23 bracket.

Sebastian Vettel continued with his impressive form by posting the fourth fastest time for Toro Rosso, despite only running in the morning. Vettel was replaced by teammate Sebastien Bourdais in the afternoon, although the Frenchman finished down in 10th position.

Yesterday's pace-setter Felipe Massa had to settle for fifth place today, the Ferrari driver causing the only red flag of the day when he spun into the gravel at the Ascari chicane.

Fernando Alonso took over from Renault teammate Nelsinho Piquet to continue with the French squad's preparations for the Monza race. Alonso was sixth quickest ahead of the Force India of Adrian Sutil and the Red Bull of Mark Webber, the busiest man today.

Jarno Trulli was ninth quickest for Toyota, ahead of the Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, who shared one car, the Brazilian driving in the morning and the Briton in the afternoon.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time     Laps
 1.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (B)  1:22.621   89
 2.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:22.879  100
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:23.341   92
 4.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:23.424   47
 5.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:23.445   86
 6.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:23.606   95
 7.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:23.823   92
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:23.936  101
 9.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:24.158   77
10.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:24.311   44
11.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:24.695   51
12.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:25.058   42

All Timing Unofficial