With Spanish team mate and title frontrunner Fernando Alonso leading the way in a damp opening session, the omens looked promising for Renault.
The Finn, second in the Formula One championship to Renault's Fernando Alonso, suffered a blown engine in Friday's first free practice.
Michael Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix for his and Ferrari's first victory of the F1 season
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished second and third respectively.
The 22-year-old McLaren driver needed to win or finish ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen at the Chinese Grand Prix to win the world title but his race ended when he slid off the asphalt and into the gravel when approaching the pit lane.
Rediff's Formula One fanatics in a chat after the Melbourne Grand Prix.
Germany's Nick Heidfeld was second for Williams with Australian team mate Mark Webber third for his first podium finish.
Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso was pushed off the front row for his home Spanish Grand Prix.
Narain Karthikeyan finished 15th in the Saturday qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton hunted down Max Verstappen to win the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash his Red Bull rival's Formula One lead to 14 points in one of the greatest drives of his career.
"These victories are also going to generate an excess of euphoria so we have to be cautious," said the Spaniard.
The Renault driver held off a strong challenge from seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Narain Karthikeyan finished 17th in the first qualifying round at the San Marino Grand Prix
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that it was reviewing Sunday's race result after a timing discrepancy came to light.
The Indian ace's Jordan-Toyota E15 developed electrical problems and he was forced to retire in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Briton, the most experienced driver on the starting grid and 35 years old next January, will partner Spaniard Fernando Alonso in a lineup of champions.
Italian Jarno Trulli was second while Narain Karthikeyan finished 11th, in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Italy's Jarno Trulli topped the timesheets for Toyota in Saturday's final Malaysian Grand Prix practice as championship leader Giancarlo Fisichella spun his Renault into the gravel.
'After many years of having to find new adjectives to say horrible, I realised I would rather write about things I want to write about.'
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher will write another extraordinary chapter in the Formula One record books if he wins his eighth title this year.
Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso will race for McLaren in the 2007 season
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Italian Grand Prix at a canter on Sunday to move 53 points clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in the Formula One championship after six victories from 12 races.
A metal plate shed by a car has been blamed for alarming punctures suffered by Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in Friday's Belgian Grand Prix practice.
A huge party began in Fernando Alonso's home town of Oviedo on Sunday when the Spanish driver became the country's first F1 champion.
The Finn won the race for the second year in a row and kept Renault's Fernando Alonso waiting for the Formula One title.
Fernando Alonso is leaving Ferrari at the end of the season because he wants a fresh environment and needs to be winning again, the Formula One team's ex-chairman Luca di Montezemolo said on Wednesday.
Pedro de la Rosa has accused Renault of using illegal 'team orders' to help Fernando Alonso take second place at the Turkish Grand Prix.
