Rosberg: boost

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Nico Rosberg gave Williams a boost ahead of qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix with the fastest time in Saturday's final practice session in Montreal.

With Ferrari, McLaren Mercedes and BMW Sauber F1's pacesetters, Williams are currently locked in a battle for fourth place in the Constructors' Championship alongside Red Bull, Renault and Toyota.

And Rosberg threw down the gauntlet to his mid-division rivals by posting a time of one minute 16.555 seconds early in the 60-minute session at the 2.71-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

World Champion Kimi Raikkonen was second fastest, only 0.034secs slower with a best lap of 1:16.589s in his Ferrari while McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, fastest in practice on Friday, improved steadily to eventually lap in 1:16.725s.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa clocked 1:16.787s while Williams' Kazuki Nakajima capped a great session for the team with the fifth fastest time of 1:16.898s.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli (1:16.946), McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen (1:16.952), Renault's Nelson Piquet (1:17.060) and Mark Webber of Red Bull (1:17.062) rounded out the top 10.

Hitting the wall

The session lost nine minutes following an accident involving Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel, the German driver hitting the wall coming out of Turn Nine.

Vettel lost his rear right wheel on impact, with his front right attached only by wiring as his STR3 car limped towards a run-off zone.

The accident prompted a red flag as marshals cleared debris from the track and removed the stricken Toro Rosso to safety.

The was further woe for the Red Bull-backed outfit when team-mate Sebastien Bourdais then brushed the same wall with his right rear wheel, causing sufficient damage to end his session.

And despite setting a top-10 time, Nelson Piquet Jr's miserable season continued when his second spin of the session, right at its conclusion, saw him just avoid impact with the wall.

Less than two seconds separated the entire field with Force India's Adrian Sutil 20th fastest, 1.869 seconds slower than Rosberg.

Canadian Grand Prix, Saturday practice:

1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams 1:16.555
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:16.589
3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:16.725
4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:16.787
5. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams 1:16.898
6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:16.946
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:16.952
8. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:17.060
9. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1:17.062
10. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso 1:17.085
11. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:17.109
12. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso 1:17.282
13. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull 1:17.322
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:17.557
15. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:17.557
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India 1:17.608
17. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:17.683
18. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:17.766
19. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:18.178
20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1:18.424