Hamilton fastest in final Bahrain practice

Manama: British rookie Lewis Hamilton continued his sensational start to the Formula One season by posting the fastest time in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 22-year-old McLaren driver pipped Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by 0.006 of a second with the fastest lap of the weekend so far, 1:32.543, near the end of the session.

Raikkonen had been quickest throughout Friday and Ferrari will be chasing their fifth successive pole position in qualifying.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said the Briton had all the makings of "Formula One's next superstar".

"He's young, good-looking and talks to people," he said of Formula One's first black driver. "He is selling the business, 100 percent."

Hamilton's team mate, double world champion Fernando Alonso, was seventh fastest.

The Spaniard, who leads Raikkonen by two points after two races following last weekend's McLaren one-two in Malaysia, needed repairs to his car after a part of the overhead gantry in the McLaren garage fell on it during the night.

"There was some minor damage to a wing on Fernando's car which the team quickly repaired," a McLaren spokesperson said.

"The team will investigate the cause of the incident but are confident this will not happen again."

Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix qualifying standings on Saturday:
1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:32.652
2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:32.935
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:33.131
4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 1:33.192
5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:33.404
6. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:33.710
7. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:34.056
8. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 1:34.106
9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:34.154
10. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams-Toyota 1:34.399
11. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Williams-Toyota 1:32.915
12. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Renault 1:32.935
13. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.082
14. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 1:33.294
15. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:33.624
16. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:33.731
17. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri-Honda 1:33.984
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.024
19. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.333
20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.280
21. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull-Renault 1:35.341
22. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Spyker-Ferrari 1:35.533

-Compiled by Infostrada Sports