McLarens Jenson Button made best use of changeable conditions to finish FP1 half a second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Button set his time of 1:16.595 in the first half-hour of running, with the session subsequently interrupted by intermittent showers. The track never got sufficiently wet to impede running and, while most drivers improved their times subsequently, Buttons earlier time was never challenged. With no 2011 reference for the Pirelli tyres at Hockenheim, and with bad weather forecast for the rest of Friday and worse for Saturday, FP1 was unusually busy, with drivers taking advantage of the mostly dry conditions. When the rain began to fall 25 minutes into the session, many drivers already had a first run completed. At that point Button led Lotuss Romain Grosjean by 1.767s. Sergio Prez was third for Sauber a further second back, ahead of Williams tester Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen rounding out the top six. While most drivers returned to the garage to wait out the shower, the Toro Rossos stayed out on slick tyres, suggesting the track wasnt badly affected, and a few minutes later most of the field re-emerged. At the hour mark Fernando Alonso had jumped into second place for Ferrari, followed by Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg for Force India and Mercedes Michael Schumacher, with Grosjean dropping to sixth. Another brief shower caused a few cars to slither wide but everyone continued on slicks, with the exception of the Saubers who did a reconnaissance on the Inter. Just before the end of the session Bottas spun off at the Sachs curve. The Williams snapped as it approached the corner and put the Finn into the tyre barriers with minor damage to the rearIt didnt materially affect the session. Buttons time stood but Hamilton moved up into second position, albeit half a second slower than his team mate. Alonso finished third, a further three-tenths back, ahead of Schumacher, Prez and Hulkenberg.
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m16.595 27 laps2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m17.093s + 0.498 223. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m17.370s + 0.775 214. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m17.382s + 0.787 205. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.413s + 0.818 286. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m17.599s + 1.004 177. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.915s + 1.320 278. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m17.995s + 1.400 229. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m18.020s + 1.425 2010 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m18.130s + 1.535 2111 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.226s + 1.631 2212 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m18.339s + 1.744 2113 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m18.422s + 1.827 2814 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m18.709s + 2.114 3015 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m18.831s + 2.236 1416 Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1m18.972s + 2.377 2117 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m19.039s + 2.444 3418 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m19.674s + 3.079 2419 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m19.963s + 3.368 2420 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m20.122s + 3.527 2721 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m20.169s + 3.574 2022 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m20.539s + 3.944 1823 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m21.138s + 4.543 2424 Dani Clos HRT-Cosworth 1m21.740s + 5.145 27
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