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Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso edged out his McLaren and Red Bull rivals to lead the field in Friday practice for the European Grand Prix in Valencia.
The Spaniard made an error on his fastest lap but beat Hamilton by 0.227 seconds, with Red Bull’s championship leader Sebastian Vettel third.
Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes was fourth ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and Jenson Button’s McLaren.
The times raised hopes qualifying on Saturday will be a close contest. BBC Sport
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Formula 1: Mark Webber Fastest in First Practice at Valencia
Formula 1: European Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Formula 1: Fernando Alonso Fastest in Second Practice at Valencia
Mark Webber was seventh in the second Red Bull - the Australian had been quickest in the morning session.
Nico Rosberg of Mercedes was eighth ahead of fellow-German Nick Heidfeld who outpaced his Renault team-mate Vitaly Petrov by taking ninth place ahead of him in 10th.
The session was run in dry and hot conditions under a blue sky and, after the spectacular carnage in Canada, produced few major incidents and accidents.
Vettel was fastest early on ahead of Webber, but as the session unfolded a series of drivers took charge - Rosberg, then Webber, Vettel again, Hamilton and, finally, Alonso, who was able to reduce his time to create a cushion at the head of the field. AFP
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:38.0 2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:38.2 3 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 01:38.3 4 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:38.3 5 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:38.4 6 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:38.5 7 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 01:38.5 8 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:39.0 9 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:39.0 10 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:39.6 11 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 01:39.6 12 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 01:40.0 13 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 01:40.3 14 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 01:40.4 15 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 01:40.5 16 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 01:40.5 17 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 01:42.1 18 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 01:42.2 19 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 01:42.2 20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 01:42.3 21 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 01:42.8 22 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 01:44.5 23 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 01:46.9 24 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari No time
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