Nico Rosberg tops crash-filled final Monaco practice

The Ferrari then plunged nose-first into the energy-absorbing plastic safety barrier at the Ste. Devote corner,bringing out red flags with 23 minutes remaining and leaving Massa8217;s mechanics with a major repair job before later qualifying.

They were not the only ones handed an increased workload,with Force India8217;s Adrian Sutil hitting the barriers at Massenet on the rise to Casino Square with 15 minutes remaining and Lotus8217;s Romain Grosjean also coming to grief at Ste. Devote after crashing there on Thursday.

Rosberg,who was fastest in both sessions on Thursday 8211; Friday being a rest day 8211; and will be chasing a third pole position in a row,completed one hat-trick with a quickest lap around the narrow street circuit of one minute 14.378 seconds.

That was 0.661 faster than second-placed Grosjean8217;s best and 0.883 faster than Red Bull8217;s triple world champion Sebastian Vettel in third place.

Ferrari8217;s Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest,with the Spaniard 0.908 off the pace 8211; but without doing a clean lap on the fastest tyres 8211; ahead of qualifying for a race he has won twice with different teams.

Rosberg8217;s team mate Lewis Hamilton,the 2008 world champion,was fifth on the timesheets.

Monaco,the glamour highlight of the Formula One calendar,is the sixth race of the season. Vettel leads Lotus8217;s Kimi Raikkonen by four points.

Raikkonen was sixth quickest on a chilly but bright morning with a gusty breeze blowing in from the sea and across the yacht-filled harbour.