1. Massa (Ferrari) 1:35.748

2. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1:36.230

3. Kovalainen (McLaren) 1:36.613

4. Hamilton (McLaren) 1:36.709

5. Trulli (Toyota) 1:36.711

6. Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1:36.727

7. Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1:36.753

Saturday: Qualifying 0600 GMT

By Sarah Holt

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0700: That's it then. Felipe Massa takes pole with a fastest lap of 1:35. 748 and Ferrari lock out the front row as Kimi Raikkonen is second, almost half a second behind.

Next come the McLarens with Heikki Kovalainen third from Lewis Hamilton, who looked less than comfortable in Sepang.

0658: Here's what you need to know. Felipe Massa pulls out a big one to stay top with 1:35.748 ahead of Raikkonen.

Kovalainen is third ahead of Hamilton with Kubica in fifth. There's still time for one more lap.

0658: Hamilton gets caught in the slipstream of a Toyota and that will hinder him as he tries to set a flyer.

0657: Glock goes off on the grass for Toyota while Alonso gets round in ninth.

0656: The McLarens both whiz back to the pits to take on softer tyres to try and up the ante as they try and close down the Ferraris.

0654: Okay, first look at the main contenders running with race fuel. Felipe Massa goes up to the top of the timesheets with 1:36.434 ahead of team-mate Raikkonen. Kovalainen is third with Hamilton fifth.

0652: Both Ferraris and the McLarens get out quickly. Hamilton looks like he is still having some problems handling his McLaren but it would be really silly to write him off just yet.

0650: Off we go again for the top 10 shootout.

0645: A flurry of action at the end of the second session but no big changes for those caught in the drop zone.

Fernando Alonso drags his Renault through in 10th but after a bright showing in Australia, Nico Rosberg finishes down in 16th in his Williams and will not go through.

Vettel goes out in the second Toro Rosso while both Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button fall short for Honda. David Coulthard is out for Red Bull along with Renault's Nelson Picquet.

0638: Rosberg tries to eke a bit more pace out of his Williams but he stays down in 13th while Massa and Hamilton are going out again to try and improve their times.

0637: All right let's have a look at the chaps in the danger zone. Vettel, Barrichello, Piquet, Rosberg, Glock and Coulthard are all there at the moment.

0635: BMW Sauber show what they can do as Nick Heidfeld powers his car round in 1:34.648 to move up to second while team-mate Robert Kubica goes fourth.

0631: First sign of some genuine pace from the main contenders as Raikkonen sets a speedy flying lap of 1:34.188. McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen goes second in 1:34.759 but Hamilton looks like he is gritting his teeth out there as he comes through in the fourth fastest time.

0629: Both Ferraris get straight out on track as the second session starts and Hamilton is out too, and makes a little wobble on turn four.

0626: Looking a little more overcast in Sepang now where there are reports of a few drops of rain. We're almost ready for the second session.

0620: Final few seconds now of the first part of qualifying and one man who definitely won't be going through is Sebastien Bourdais who runs off into the grass on his final lap so he's out.

And so are Takuma Sato (Super Aguri), Adrian Sutil (Force India), Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri), Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India).

So the talking point of the first session is Jarno Trulli's pace in the Toyota, the one-lap specialist setting the fastest time of 1:35.205.

0617: Red Bull's Mark Webber moves up to fifth with Nico Rosberg improving from 17th to eighth. Looks like DC has got himself out of trouble too as he moves up to 12th.

0615: Alonso is starting his final effort and Coulthard also emerges out of the pits as they try and get themselves out of trouble. Alonso is working really hard in his Renault even on the softer tyres, and he sneaks himself up into ninth.

0613: Button goes from 17th up to seventh but Fernando Alonso drops into the danger zone.

0611: So, at the back of the field so far are Anthony Davidson, Takuma Sato, Vettel, Sutil and Honda duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello - they'll be wanting to drag themselves out of that.

0608: Kovalainen is out of the pits now and is fast through the first sector and the Finn sets the fastest time of 1:35.227.

0606: Still in the pits are both BMW drivers and Heikki Kovalainen; so they don't seem to be bothered about the threat of rain.

0605: First times from the big guns, and nothing remarkable yet. Raikkonen sets the fastest lap with 1:35.997 ahead of Massa and Hamilton. Looks like Raikkonen is going to go faster on his second lap too.

0602: Lewis Hamilton brings out his McLaren and there are 11 cars out on the track now.

0600: There's a 60% chance of rain during the qualifying session and Felipe Massa, Sebastien Bourdais and Adrian Sutil all get out quickly to get a dry lap in.

0558: All right, the drivers are all poised in the pits, helmets on, hands on the wheel ready to start the first session. It's a hot, hot day in Malaysia, 29 C outside the car and 46 C on the track.

0555: Just a little update on Red Bull. The race stewards are satisfied that David Coulthard's car is safe to drive after his crash in practice with major suspension failure. So DC is back out on the track and there were no problems in final practice, where he set the ninth fastest time.

0545: Lewis Hamilton heads into qualifying in Malaysian aiming to build on his success in the first race of the season in Australia last weekend.

The Englishman dominated in his McLaren, and after a disappointing weekend for rivals Ferrari, already has a nine-point lead in the title race over reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen.

But both McLarens struggled in final free practice in Sepang with Hamilton running off the track at turn eight and he seemed to struggle from then on.

The championship leader finished 11th on the time sheets with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen 16th.

The surprise fastest man in practice was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld who put in a blistering fastest lap of 1:35.019.

The Ferraris looked pretty good too, with Raikkonen 0.243 seconds adrift of the German and team-mate Felipe Massa 0.369 seconds behind.

Yawn, it's super early for a Saturday but we'll keep you up to date on all the qualifying action from Malaysia.

And here are the rules of qualifying again:

After the first 15-minute session, the slowest six cars will be eliminated. Six more cars will then be eliminated during a second spell before the remaining top 10 cars battle it out for the grid positions.