Mark Webber topped the times for Red Bull at the end of Friday’s two opening practice sessions for this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
The 34-year-old Australian, who won the last race on the circuit in 2009, clocked a fastest time of one minute and 31.770 seconds to outpace Fernando Alonso of Ferrari by one-tenth of a second.
The Sapnish two-times champion Spaniard, who won last year’s German race held at Hockenheim, was himself two-tenths of a second clear of Webber’s team-mate and German defending champion Sebastian Vettel.
For Vettel, who is seeking his first win on home soil, it was an inauspicious start to a weekend in which he is hoping to further extend his runaway lead in this year’s title race.
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Formula 1: Mark Webber Fastest in Second Practice at Nurburgring
Formula 1: Fernando Alonso Fastest in First Practice at Nurburgring
Formula 1: German Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of the two Mercedes drivers Michael Schumacher, 42, the seven-times champion, and Nico Rosberg, 26. AFP
Once again the action was very close in the chasing group with the two Renaults of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov eighth and ninth with laps of 1m 33.098s and 1m 33.138s respectively. Adrian Sutil was 10th with a 1m 33.138s, despite a spin, while Button was only 0.074s ahead of Paul di Resta in the second Force India, which was 12th fastest with a time of 1m 33.299s. There was then a bigger gap back to the Sauber of Sergio Perez, who could do no better than 1m 34.113s, but this was still clear of Rubens Barrichello’s Williams, which was 14th with a lap of 1m 34.344s.
Jaime Alguersuari was 15th with a best of 1m 34.487s. His Toro Rosso team mate Sebastien Buemi was in trouble with a misfire, which kept him from setting any lap time. This meant that he was at the bottom of the time sheets.
Kamui Kobayashi ended up 16th in his Sauber, unable to do better than a 1m 34.491s, which was half a second ahead of Pastor Maldonado’s 1m 34.996s for Williams.
Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen continued to show well but had another off-track moment on his way to setting the 18th best time, with a lap of 1m 35.753s, but this was well clear of Timo Glock’s Virgin. The local hero had a spin and could do no better than a 1m 36.940s, but was still clear of the second Lotus, driven by Karun Chandhok, who had a big spin early in the session. He set a 1m 37.248s. Formula 1
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 01:31.7 2 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:31.9 3 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 01:32.1 4 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:32.4 5 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:32.4 6 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:32.6 7 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:32.7 8 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:33.1 9 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:33.1 10 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 01:33.2 11 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:33.2 12 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 01:33.3 13 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 01:34.1 14 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 01:34.3 15 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 01:34.5 16 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 01:34.5 17 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 01:35.0 18 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 01:35.8 19 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 01:36.9 20 21 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 01:37.2 21 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 01:37.3 22 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 01:38.1 23 22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 01:40.7 24 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari No time
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