Alonso sets the pace

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The McLaren driver had been quickest in both sessions on Friday and he clocked one minute, 12.150 seconds in the dying moments of the hour-long practice to take the fastest time from debutant BMW Sauber driver Sebastian Vettel.

British rookie and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in his McLaren with Renault's Heikki Kovalainen fourth and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld fifth in a session that saw the top 13 drivers time within a second of Alonso.

Heidfeld had set the early pace, putting in a fast lap of 1min 12.964secs before Ferrari's Felipe Massa, then Alonso and then Hamilton each posted fastest times approaching the halfway mark of the session.

Hamilton's 1:12.378 shaded Alonso by 0.181 of a second and Massa by 0.419.

Then Heidfeld's 19-year-old team-mate Vettel showed his intention to make his debut Grand Prix weekend a memorable one by posting 1:12.321 to head the practice times.

The German stands in for Robert Kubica, who despite declaring himself fit, was not allowed to race this weekend by race doctors, following the concussion he received in a massive crash last week in Canada.

Vettel, a BMW Sauber test driver, wasted little time learning the ropes, with the fourth fastest time of the first practice on Friday and today he emphasised the point that there could be more than one BMW Sauber in contention in qualifying.

Normal service was restored, however, as the clock wound down on the session, with Alonso edging Vettel out of the fastest lap position.