Kubica takes his chance

Robert Kubica has set the fastest time in the final practice session at the Japanese grand prix, taking advantage of a drying track to beat the field on Saturday morning.

After a heavy early morning downpour, most drivers ventured onto the Fuji circuit armed with extreme wet weather tyres. But, as the sun came out, the circuit dried quicker than expected and the drivers coming out towards the session's conclusion were able to use normal wet tyres, subsequently setting faster times.

Kubica set posted 1:25.087 just before the end of the session, narrowly beating Toyota's Timo Glock (1:25.171) and Renault driver Nelsinho Piquet (1:25.415).

Kubica's BWM team-mate Nick Heidfeld came in fourth with a time of 1:25.474 as Toyota's Kazuki Nakajima (1:25.563) gave his home support something to cheer about with the fifth-fastest time of the morning.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa (1:25.709) posted the seventh fastest time, despite sitting out the closing stages of the session to narrowly edge out Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber finished in eighth with a time of 1:25.785.

McLaren's F1 Championship hope Lewis Hamilton also sat out the session's final minutes after setting the 10th-fastest time of 1:25.901 in extreme wet tyres.