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Mark Webber comfortably set the fastest time in opening practice for the European Grand Prix at Valencia.
The Red Bull driver posted a quickest lap of 1 minute 40.403 seconds around the Valencia circuit, outpacing the Renault of Vitaly Petrov by 0.824s.
Fernando Alonso was a further 0.012s back in third place, while Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heidfeld completed the top five.
World champion Sebastian Vettel was two-and-a-half seconds down in 16th place after reportedly running without the off-throttle exhaust, a device that will be banned from the next race in Britain.
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Formula 1: European Grand Prix - First Practice Results
At the start of the session, Force India reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg was able to get some laps under his belt before spinning into the barriers at Turn 12. SkySports
Ahead of him in the top 10 were Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Jenson Button in his McLaren, followed by Adrian Sutil in his Force India and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, with Jaime Alguersuari in his Toro Rosso 10th, the Spaniard 1.813secs down.
Hulkenberg, standing in for Paul di Resta, slithered his way along the dusty track before first crunching the nose of the car into a wall and then the left-rear wheel, forcing him to retire.
For Team Lotus reserve driver Karun Chandhok, first practice was yet another unhappy affair for the Indian.
In being given another chance here, Chandhok was again a frustrated figure as the car on this occasion lost second gear on his way out of the pits, leaving him propping up the standings without a time to his name. Daily Mail
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