Heikki Kovalainen ensured Lewis Hamilton did not have it all his own way in practice ahead of Sunday's German Grand Prix.
Hamilton dominated Friday's two 90-minute sessions, destroying his rivals around Hockenheim in posting a hot lap of minute 15.025 seconds to leave them trailing by over 0.6secs.
But McLaren team-mate Kovalainen set the benchmark in the closing hour-long session ahead of qualifying later today, although he was still half a second down on Hamilton's best.
The Finn, 24 points behind world championship leaders Hamilton and Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, set a time of 1:15.621secs for the 4.574km track.
That was Kovalainen's best overall throughout the three sessions, edging Massa into second place by 0.072secs, with Hamilton third just over 0.2secs adrift.
Seemingly running on lower fuel settings, Renault's Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet were fourth and seventh, sandwiching Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli for Toyota, with the quartet all setting their quickest times.
Mark Webber was 0.575secs down for Red Bull in eighth, with Raikkonen again suggesting he has yet to find his true form around this track as the reigning world champion could only manage ninth.
Behind the Williams of Nico Rosberg in 10th came Britons Jenson Button and David Coulthard for Honda and Red Bull respectively, in 11th and 12th, with both just over 0.8secs down.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who spun into a tyre wall yesterday, had further problems with his car as his session ended 30 minutes in.
The Pole, who is two points behind the three championship leaders, managed only 15 laps before parking up in the garage, leaving him to prop up the timesheets with a lap 1.8secs slower than Kovalainen.
Times
01 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:15.621 18 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.693 21 laps
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:15.839 21 laps
04 F. Alonso Renault 1:15.943 18 laps
05 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.037 24 laps
06 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.133 25 laps
07 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:16.161 21 laps
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:16.196 19 laps
09 K. Rдikkцnen Ferrari 1:16.380 19 laps
10 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.405 20 laps
11 J. Button Honda 1:16.447 22 laps
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:16.515 19 laps
13 K. Nakajima Williams 1:16.530 18 laps
14 T. Glock Toyota 1:16.636 27 laps
15 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.808 23 laps
16 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.906 24 laps
17 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:16.938 20 laps
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.189 20 laps
19 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:17.312 22 laps
20 R. Kubica BMW 1:17.469 15 laps
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