Hamilton keeps McLaren on top

Williams's Nico Rosberg was their closest challenger, with championship leader Jenson Button only 13th for Brawn.

After grabbing the top spot right at the death this morning, in the second session Kovalainen showed his best form early - setting a 1m22.126s on the softer tyres after just 25 minutes.

That earned him first place, which was where he remained for the next hour.

Hamilton looked like he might knock his team-mate off the top at the start of his final run, but had to back off after encountering traffic.

He found clear space at the third attempt though, coming through to beat Kovalainen by 0.047s.

Rosberg had closed to within 0.028s of Kovalainen shortly beforehand, and held on for third.

Mark Webber ended the day fourth, despite sitting out the final part of the session after a hydraulic problem on his Red Bull.

Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastian Vettel completed the top six in the second Williams and Red Bull respectively, ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the best of the Brawns.

Jarno Trulli was eighth despite parking trackside with an electrical failure early in the session. His Toyota was returned to the pits in time to be repaired and rejoin.

It was a troubled afternoon for Ferrari's Felipe Massa. The Brazilian had a number of trips off the road and ended up only 18th, albeit just a second off the McLarens' pace.

Toro Rosso's newcomer Jamie Alguersuari again stayed out of trouble, and improved on his morning time, but ended his first day as a Formula 1 driver at the foot of the timing screens.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.079            36
 2.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.126  + 0.047   36
 3.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.154  + 0.075   47
 4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.369  + 0.290   29
 5.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.426  + 0.347   40
 6.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.550  + 0.471   30
 7.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:22.641  + 0.562   38
 8.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:22.663  + 0.584   28
 9.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:22.690  + 0.611   43
10.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:22.751  + 0.672   45
11.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:22.763  + 0.684   38
12.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:22.793  + 0.714   37
13.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:22.806  + 0.727   42
14.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:22.870  + 0.791   36
15.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:22.927  + 0.848   36
16.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:22.978  + 0.899   28
17.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.029  + 0.950   39
18.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:23.156  + 1.077   32
19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:23.176  + 1.097   45
20.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:23.942  + 1.863   40

All Timing Unofficial