German GP: Nico Rosberg back on top in final practice

Fernando Alonso was third quickest for Ferrari.

Both Mercedes went out on simulated qualifying runs in the closing minutes but Hamilton's lap was scrappier than Rosberg's.

Most teams focused on longer runs with higher fuel loads for the majority of the session, before sending their drivers out for qualifying-style efforts on the super-soft tyres in the final 10 minutes.

Williams was chasing laptime early in the session, which put Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa at the top of the timesheets for the first half hour until Kimi Raikkonen, the first driver to go out on the super-soft tyres, usurped them.

Times then tumbled in the final minutes as Mercedes returned to its customary 1-2 position.

Fernando Alonso had a spin at Turn 8 after overshooting the apex and running wide over the exit kerb, but his super-soft run was flawlessly committed and he closed out the session third fastest, 0.605s off Rosberg's benchmark.

Alonso's Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen did not improve on the 1m18.842s he set on his first super-soft run, and was eighth quickest overall.

Bottas had outpaced Massa on the longer runs, but in qualifying trim the Brazilian had the edge over his team-mate and they ended the session fourth and fifth just off Alonso's pace.

It was Jenson Button's turn to test McLaren's new rear wing, but he struggled with locking brakes and ended the session 0.8s slower than team-mate Kevin Magnussen, who was sixth fastest - seven places ahead of the Briton.

Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel were fighting their cars throughout and the Red Bull drivers could do no better than seventh and ninth.

Pos Driver                Team                    Time      Gap      Laps
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                1m17.779s           24
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes                1m18.380s  +0.601s  20
 3. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 1m18.384s  +0.605s  11
 4. Felipe Massa          Williams-Mercedes       1m18.575s  +0.796s  18
 5. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Mercedes       1m18.611s  +0.832s  19
 6. Kevin Magnussen       McLaren-Mercedes        1m18.756s  +0.977s  16
 7. Daniel Ricciardo      Red Bull-Renault        1m18.769s  +0.990s  13
 8. Kimi Raikkonen        Ferrari                 1m18.842s  +1.063s  8
 9. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        1m18.890s  +1.111s  17
10. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes    1m19.127s  +1.348s  19
11. Daniil Kvyat          Toro Rosso-Renault      1m19.131s  +1.352s  19
12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Renault      1m19.470s  +1.691s  20
13. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m19.489s  +1.710s  15
14. Sergio Perez          Force India-Mercedes    1m19.505s  +1.726s  21
15. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari          1m19.601s  +1.822s  23
16. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault           1m20.078s  +2.299s  23
17. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Ferrari        1m20.198s  +2.419s  21
18. Pastor Maldonado      Lotus-Renault           1m20.466s  +2.687s  19
19. Adrian Sutil          Sauber-Ferrari          1m20.844s  +3.065s  6
20. Kamui Kobayashi       Caterham-Renault        1m21.018s  +3.239s  21
21. Marcus Ericsson       Caterham-Renault        1m23.077s  +5.298s  14
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Ferrari        1m23.449s  +5.670s  7