GP – Free Practice 1: McLaren Takes the Advantage

Lewis Hamilton finished ahead of his teammate Heikki Kovalainen to secure a McLaren-Mercedes one-two during the first practice session of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The Ferrari duo, Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen, finish third and fifth respectively, sandwiching the Renault of Fernando Alonso. The positions constantly changed due to the conditions. Indeed, the track improved at the end of the session.

She remained wet during the first half of the session as rain was present early in the morning, followed by another shower and drizzle shortly after the start of this race weekend.

Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), Hamilton, and Alonso exchanged the lead. The Brit narrowly avoided a spin that could have ended badly at turn 4.

Vettel had dry tires fitted halfway through the session. His first lap was still a second slower than Massa, who was leading at that stage. Then, 3 laps later, the German was 3.4 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

His teammate, Sébastien Bourdais, was also among the first to choose this type of tires and was briefly in second position before retiring due to a mechanical problem.

Once the entire field was using the same types of tires, almost all the drivers recorded the fastest lap in the race.

It seemed that Massa had the keys in hand to succeed in this morning session, but Kovalainen beat the Ferrari by 0.130 seconds, only to be overtaken by his teammate Hamilton a moment later.

Alonso and Räikkönen follow in the standings, then it’s the Williams of Nico Rosberg, which was the fastest several times on a dry track, that ranks sixth.

Vettel takes seventh place followed by Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), and the Renault of Nelson Piquet.

Although many drivers slid, Robert Kubica was the only man to taste the wall. In turn 11, the BMW went into the gravel and gently struck the side barriers. The Pole ended his session in these conditions, leaving him second to last alongside Bourdais.