SEPANG, Malaysia, March 22, 2008 (AFP) - German Nick Heidfeld set the fastest time in Saturday´s final practice ahead of Sunday´s Malaysian Grand Prix, as Briton Lewis Hamilton ran off the track and wound up only 11th.

Heidfeld, who had struggled on the previous day as his BMW Sauber team searched for a suitable set-up for his car, clocked a best time of one minute and 35.019 seconds.

This lifted him two-tenths of a second clear of defending drivers champion, Finn Kimi Raikkonen, in his Ferrari on a cloudy, humid morning when few of the times gave any real indication of what may lie ahead.

Hamilton, who took an off-circuit excursion through a gravel trap and over the kerbs, damaging the front wing of his McLaren Mercedes-Benz slightly, was only nine-tenths of a second slower than Heidfeld at the end of the session.

Brazilian Felipe Massa, in the other Ferrari, was third fastest ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in the improving Toyota.

Australian Mark Webber was fifth for Red Bull ahead of his team-mate Briton David Coulthard, as both men proved the integrity of their cars following a dismal Friday when the Scot crashed heavily.

Brazilian Nelson Piquet finished up seventh for Renault ahead of Briton Jenson Button in a Honda, German Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso and German Timo Glock in the second Toyota.

Double world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso was 12th fastest in the other Renault and Hamilton´s McLaren team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen 16th.

The times meant little, however, as McLaren apparently chose not to run their cars on low fuel in a qualifying configuration.

This in effect ensured that Ferrari were able to dominate the session easily until Heidfeld´s late flying lap.

But it was a good morning´s work for Red Bull, who were only permitted to take part in the session after the sport´s ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA), had requested a report detailing the strength of their suspension following Coulthard´s spectacular accident.

The team´s RB4 car was inspected before Red Bull were allowed to continue in the Grand Prix on Saturday, but their efforts looked to have proved worthwhile. The FIA said they would keep the situation under review.