SEPANG, Malaysia -- Ferrari continued to hold the edge over Red Bull and Mercedes ahead of qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix after Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets in final practice.
Although Raikkonen's fastest lap was 0.6s slower than Vettel's best effort on Friday, it was still enough to hold a 0.211s margin over the closest non-Ferrari rival, which was once again Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull. However, the session ended in worrying circumstances for Ferrari as a technical issue saw Vettel forced to crawl back to the pits in second gear on his final run. As he climbed out of the car it was unclear how serious the problem was but the team immediately set to work assessing the car ahead of the two hour gap before qualifying.
Without the issue, the safe money would be on Vettel to secure pole position in Sepang -- even though he was 0.162s slower than his teammate. Most of Vettel's time went missing in the first sector -- where he complained of being too close to the car in front at the start of the lap -- and he held marginally faster second and third sectors. Ricciardo was fastest of all in the middle sector, but Red Bull's power deficit was clear in the final sector in which the Australian lost 0.120s to the Ferraris.
Mercedes made progress of sorts by cutting its gap to Ferrari from 1.4s on Friday to 0.449s on Saturday morning. But the performance of the car was still below the team's pre-weekend's expectations, with both cars continuing to struggle for grip.
After suspicions on Friday that new aero parts had left the Mercedes off the pace in Friday practice, the team split its strategy for the final session with Hamilton reverting to some old-spec components while Bottas continued with the upgrade package. Hamilton's initial feedback was positive on the changes, but when it came to his fast lap he missed the apexes at Turns 9 and 15, leaving 0.210s off teammate Bottas. There is undoubtedly more time to find for the championship leader, but whether he can unlock in time for the final session of qualifying remains to be seen.
Max Verstappen was sixth fastest after a controversial end to the session in which he collided with Jolyon Palmer in the final corner. Palmer was on a quick lap in his Renault as Verstappen was preparing for a fast run on his next lap. Palmer, keen to complete his qualifying simulation, committed to the inside of the corner, only to find Verstappen on the same piece of track as the Red Bull driver attempted to perfect his launch onto the pit straight.
The collision punctured Verstappen's left rear tyre and damaged Palmer's front wing, resulting in angry radio messages from both cockpits. It will be investigated by the stewards ahead of qualifying.
Sergio Perez was seventh fastest for Force India ahead of Felipe Massa in the Williams and teammate Esteban Ocon. The McLarens were next up in tenth and 11th, with Stoffel Vandoorne ahead of Fernando Alonso, who spun on his fast lap at the final corner.
Lance Stroll was 12th fastest in the lowest-placed Mercedes-powered car ahead of Kevin Magnussen, whose Haas struggled with power unit-related issues on two separate occasions in the session. Nico Hulkenberg was the highest-placed Renault driver in 14th ahead of the two Toro Rossos and teammate Palmer.
Haas repaired Romain Grosjean's car overnight after a loose drain cover saw him wreck it against the barriers at Turn 13 on Friday, but he could only manage the 18th fastest time ahead of both Saubers.