The Spaniard, who was fastest in the day’s first practice session, put in an inch-perfect performance to record a new Sepang qualifying lap record of 1:32.582.

But despite the result, the topic of conversation at the conclusion of the afternoon was the pace shown by Toyota.

The team had looked good in practice with Jarno Trulli recording the weekend’s fastest time, but few believed them to be a serious threat.

However, Trulli’s qualifying performance had a few people question that judgement as he finished the session second fastest with a 1:32.672.

Third fastest was the second Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella, followed by McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher.

Ferrari may be convinced to call in the all-new F2005 for the Bahraini Grand Prix after a disappointing showing on Saturday afternoon.

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello could only record the 12th and 14th fastest times respectively.

The scorching conditions were part to blame as the team’s Bridgestone tyres were not happy on a Sepang surface that was over 50 degrees Celsius.

As earlier reported, Jenson Button had engine problems during the day’s first practice session.

There were reports that the engine in the Briton’s BAR was replaced but sources have since informed us the problem was only an oil leak.