Nico Rosberg joins Nakajima on sidelines as top ten qualifiers decided.

If losing Kazuki Nakajima first time around was bad enough, Williams' interest in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix ended when Nico Rosberg failed to find enough time on his second and final run to progress to the top ten shoot-out.

The German was among a handful of drivers potentially able to make it out of the drop zone and into the final group at Sepang but, along with Nelson Piquet Jr, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard, Sebastian Vettel and, after being pushed down to eleventh, Jenson Button, could not produce enough of an improvement to climb the timesheet.

As a result, those who had set the pace on their opening runs continued to enjoy the safety of a top ten slot, although Fernando Alonso and Timo Glock did manage to overcome a lowly spot and make it into the final ten-minute phase.

Such was the tension among the closely-matched middle group, however, that Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Q1 pacesetter Jarno Trulli all ventured out to try and shore up their position, something the first two managed by closing up behind fastest man Kimi Raikkonen in second and third respectively.

Raikkonen stunned the field with a 1min 34.188secs lap that, until the final moments, was six-tenths clear of the rest, while Heikki Kovalainen and the two BMW Saubers joined the world champion in not needing to venture out a second time. Red Bull's Mark Webber completes those qualifying for the top ten shoot-out.

Despite the skies darkening, rain continued to hold off, but remains a threat for Q3.