Practice 3 Report - The buzz about Bee-Em

Nick Heidfeld set the fastest time of the Saturday morning session in Malaysia in his BMW Sauber, setting himself up for a shot at pole position in qualifying. It was interesting to see that the German was ahead of the two Ferraris, which both seemed to be fairly well hooked-up, but McLaren decided not to show its hand, preferring to let the opposition know what the team can do only when it really counts. Lewis Hamilton was almost a second slower than Heidfeld and while he did have an off into the gravel one one point, it is clear that there is more to come from the Woking team.

Others may flatter to deceive when the clock is running.

Fourth quickest behind Heidfeld and the two Ferraris was Jarno Trulli in his Toyota, with the two Red Bulls fifth and sixth, the FIA Technical Delegate having conducted a visual check of the front suspension of the RB4 after David Coulthard's accident on Friday. His report resulted in the FIA Stewards deciding not to take any action against the team, although they ruled that the cars will remain under review for the rest of the event.

Nelson Piquet was seventh fastest with Jenson Button eighth and Sebastian Vettel ninth.

The top 10 was completed by Timo Glock, while Lewis Hamilton was 11th, Fernando Alonso 12th, Nico Rosberg 15th and Heikki Kovalainen 16th.

This afternoon may produce a different picture.