Rosberg leads sodden final test day

Incessant heavy rain left conditions too dangerous even for worthwhile wet tyre testing from the four teams still present.

The morning session passed almost entirely without activity, with Lewis Hamilton only setting the day's first flying laps shortly before the lunchbreak.

The McLaren was joined for more concerted running by Maldonado's Williams and Rosberg's Mercedes in the afternoon, and as the weather finally improved a little in the final quarter of an hour, the trio engaged in a busy battle for the top spot.

It was Rosberg who ultimately emerged ahead, his 1m43.814s half a second quicker than Maldonado and 0.7s clear of Hamilton.

Michael Schumacher had driven the Mercedes in the opening hours, but decided against trying a flying lap before his scheduled handover to Rosberg.

Ferrari limited itself to five exploratory installation laps with Fernando Alonso before calling it a day, and was packing up to leave the circuit by mid-afternoon.

Although Hispania was present, it announced last night that it would not be able to run after all as the F111's dampers were still stuck in customs. The new car will therefore not make its track debut until practice in Melbourne.

Pos  Driver              Team/Car           Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes           1m43.814s            35
 2.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Cosworth  1m44.333s  + 0.519s  23
 3.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   1m44.560s  + 0.746s  33
 4.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes                                5
 5.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                                 5

All timing unofficial