Hamilton quickest in FP3

Briton Hamilton clocked a time of one minute, 36.340 seconds on an overcast day where track temperatures reached 43 degrees and humidity was at a stifling 75 per cent.

Hamilton's time was 0.290 seconds quicker than the Red Bull of Mark Webber, who produced a quick final lap on soft tyres after being near the bottom of the timesheets for most of the session as he ran on the harder version.

Webber had been quickest in Friday's two sessions and despite Hamilton's time on Saturday, the Red Bull driver and his team mate Sebastian Vettel remain the men to beat.

Hamilton's team mate and compatriot Jenson Button was third quickest, 0.422 seconds off the pace, with Nick Heidfeld fourth in his Mercedes.

World champion Vettel finished fifth after complaining on his team radio that the Drag Reduction System (DRS) was not functioning as he wished.

Ferrari's woes continued as double world champion Fernando Alonso and his Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa finished way off the pace in sixth and eighth.

Alonso, who told reporters on Friday that the team had no chance of claiming pole or winning in Malaysia, finished nearly a second behind Hamilton with Massa 1.422 seconds back.

Thunderstorms were forecast for later in the day in the Sepang area and qualifying may be affected.