Saturday Second Free Practice - Malaysian GP

World Champion Michael Schumacher proved once again that he can take the heat in Sepang, when he claimed the fastest time in Saturday's final practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Schumacher, dominant in Australia but tipped to struggle in the 35-degrees Celcius heat in Malaysia, showed his Bridgestone tyres can perform well in such conditions with a lap of 1:33.526.

His time, set with just five minutes of the session to go, took the gloss off an impressive display from Williams-BMW, who had looked to claim a one-two in the final 45-minute session until Schumacher ruined their chance to shine.

Juan Pablo Montoya was bumped down to second but could retain a smile as his world champion rival Schumacher finished just 0.037 seconds ahead as his team-mate Ralf Schumacher finished 0.410 seconds behind in third.

Italian Jarno Trulli put his Renault into fourth place with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello fifth, 0.535 seconds behind his team-mate in the second Ferrari, and Jenson Button sixth for BAR-Honda.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Scot David Coulthard, continuing their policy of running relatively limited laps, finished an encouraging seventh and eighth fastest respectively for McLaren-Mercedes.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso was ninth in the second Renault and Australian Mark Webber finished tenth for Jaguar as all the top ten drivers finished within a second of the fastest time.

Zsolt Baumgartner spun his Minardi at turn nine but continued. Fernando Alonso spin at turn 11 and Jarno Trulli had a torrid time, leaving the track twice in eight minutes as he lost control of his Renault at turns eight and 11.

Montoya was seen to be coasting around the circuit with just less than 10 minutes to go but he was able to return to the pits, as was Cristiano da Matta, who spun his Toyota once again, this time at turn 11.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:33.526 213.361km/h 11 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:33.563 + 0.037 8 3. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:33.973 + 0.447 8 4. Trulli Renault (M) 1:34.041 + 0.515 12 5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:34.061 + 0.535 9 6. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:34.128 + 0.602 13 7. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:34.163 + 0.637 10 8. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:34.181 + 0.655 10 9. Alonso Renault (M) 1:34.194 + 0.668 10 10. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:34.381 + 0.855 12 11. Panis Toyota (M) 1:34.929 + 1.403 16 12. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:34.943 + 1.417 5 13. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:34.953 + 1.427 15 14. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:35.036 + 1.510 10 15. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:35.144 + 1.618 13 16. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:35.441 + 1.915 15 17. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:36.607 + 3.081 11 18. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 1:38.059 + 4.533 12 19. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:38.554 + 5.028 13 20. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:39.893 + 6.367 13 All timing unofficial