Malaysian GP: Rosberg quickest in fiery practice

SEPANG: World championship leader Nico Rosberg struck the first blow of the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend with the fastest lap in free practice on Friday, almost half-a-second quicker than Lewis Hamilton.  

But his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, who lies eight points behind in the standings, will have been encouraged by his runs later in the session when he was marginally quicker than the German on used soft tyres, the quickest of the three compounds available.