Mark Webber was once again the man to beat in Barcelona, however, unlike on Friday morning, someone did actually come close to beating him.
Webber posted a 1:22.470 during Friday's second session and although initially it looked as if his team-mate Sebastian Vettel would be the only driver near to him, Lewis Hamilton put paid to that theory.
The McLaren driver clocked a 1:22.509 to finish just 0.039s behind Webber and ended the Red Bull lock-out.
Vettel had to settle for third place, 0.356s behind Webber, while Jenson Button was fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso.
Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher were sixth and seventh for Mercedes GP with Felipe Massa bringing his Ferrari home in eighth place.
Report: The track temperature was sitting at 34'C as Jaime Alguersuari got proceedings underway on Friday afternoon in Spain. The drivers were quick to make their mark on the timesheets with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa setting the early pace. Alonso led the way with a 1:25.707.
Jenson Button broke Ferrari's hold, taking second place, 0.880s behind Alonso while Nick Heidfeld put his Renault into fourth place ahead of the two Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez. Sebastian Vettel got off to a slow start, running a bit wide at Turn 3 and going on to cross the line in 17th place.
Lewis Hamilton was the next to lead the way, a 1:25.236 for the McLaren driver. Vettel improved to 11th place while Pastor Maldonado took fourth place, the first driver to venture out on the option tyres. The Williams driver improved to third as Jaime Alguersuari climbed to sixth on the softer tyres.
Vitaly Petrov took over at the front of the pack with a 1:24.786 after putting the softer option tyres on his Renault. Heidfeld put on the softs as well and would have taken the P1 slot had it not been for Vettel coming out. A blistering 1:22.826 for the reigning World Champ, 1.540s up his fellow German.
Webber improved from 16th place to first, putting in three purple sector times to post a 1:22.470. Schumacher ruined his first lap on the options as he ran very wide. However, Massa was even messier as he lost control of his Ferrari and took a trip through the gravel after his Ferrari's rear stepped out under braking.
Nico Rosberg climbed to third place but was still 1.116s slower than Webber. Adrian Sutil appeared to have a problem with his car and was stuck standing at the back of the garage, having completed just eight laps. Hamilton put in a great lap, setting a new fastest middle sector time, to take second place, just 0.039s behind Webber.
Alonso moved up to fifth place behind Button, however, the Ferrari driver lost valuable time trailing the Renault of Heidfeld. Massa took two seconds off his time with the soft tyres while Vettel headed out on new softs and, reportedly, a full tank of fuel. His first lap was a 1:26. Alonso was not having a great day with traffic as Alguersuari was the next to hold him up on a flying lap.
The session ended with Webber in the P1 slot ahead of Hamilton and Vettel.
Times
01. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m22.470s 35 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m22.509s + 0.039 27 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m22.826s + 0.356 37 laps
04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.188s + 0.718 32 laps
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m23.568s + 1.098 34 laps
06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.586s + 1.116 35 laps
07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m23.981s + 1.511 30 laps
08. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m24.278s + 1.808 30 laps
09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.290s + 1.820 33 laps
10. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m24.366s + 1.896 31 laps
11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m24.483s + 2.013 38 laps
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m24.786s + 2.316 43 laps
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.296s + 2.826 33 laps
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m25.303s + 2.833 38 laps
15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m25.457s + 2.987 34 laps
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m25.603s + 3.133 43 laps
17. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.073s + 3.603 32 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m26.417s + 3.947 37 laps
19. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m27.123s + 4.653 20 laps
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m27.189s + 4.719 34 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.036s + 5.566 36 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m28.062s + 5.592 28 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m29.469s + 6.999 28 laps
24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m29.476s + 7.006 31 laps
