Rosberg, Hamilton dominate again

Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton set the fastest times in Saturday’s pre-qualifying practice session at the Malaysian Grand Prix, putting the team on track for another front-row grid lockout.

Rosberg set the fastest time of 1 minute, 39.690 seconds at the Sepang International Circuit, less than two tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton, the reigning world champion who beat Rosberg in the season-opening race in Australia.

Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were third and fourth on the timesheets, ahead of the two Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas in a sequential top of the order.

Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull had the seventh best time on another steamy day at Sepang, when track temperatures again reached 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit).