Spain – Free Practice 1: Alonso the fastest in a session disrupted by rain

The rain is the surprise guest of this first practice session in Barcelona, and the mercury shows 18 degrees. The single-seaters start off on intermediate tires to get their bearings before returning to the pits. At Red Bull, the two RB9s have different rear wings in order to conduct comparative tests. The Austrian team is not the only one to have made modifications to its car. The return to Europe is traditionally an opportunity to make significant updates to the cars. In this little game, McLaren will undoubtedly be the center of all attention. Yesterday, Jenson Button explained that the changes were visible to the naked eye and that the MP4/28 was different from the one used so far. But after the first quarter-hour, neither Button nor Pérez has left their box. Note that at Caterham, Heikki Kovalainen is at the wheel instead of Charles Pic, and at Marussia, Max Chilton is replaced by Rodolfo Gonzalez.

Nico Hülkenberg is the first to set a time of 1:48.508. After 30 minutes, the German is still the only one credited with a time in this first session. In the following minutes, Felipe Massa improves the benchmark time to 1:45.023. The track conditions are tricky. Romain Grosjean makes a mistake in the last sector before the chicane while Jean-Eric Vergne loses the rear of his Toro Rosso.

The lap times are coming in with Romain Grosjean completing the lap in 1:44.714. With just over 50 minutes left, seven drivers have recorded a time, all under the watchful eyes of Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez comfortably seated in the McLaren hospitality area.

Mid-session, it’s Fernando Alonso who tops the timesheets with a 1:43.630. Romain Grosjean improves a few minutes later. The Lotus driver is the busiest on track with 12 laps completed. It seems there will be more action in the second half of the session. Many drivers are improving their times. The Toro Rosso team stands out with Vergne and Ricciardo at the forefront. At McLaren, Jenson Button has left the motor home to get into his car. The Englishman is the only one who hasn’t set a timed lap 38 minutes from the end of this free practice session.

As the last half-hour approaches, Fernando Alonso holds the best time at 1:38.732. The Spaniard is ahead of Ricciardo and Hülkenberg. It is at this moment that Jenson Button chooses to take to the track. Even though they haven’t driven much, we can see that significant changes have been made, especially around the sidepods of the MP4-28. After two laps, the 2009 world champion returns to the pits. The settings of his car do not fully satisfy him.

Even if track conditions are improving, there are still puddles in the last sector, as reported by Jean-Eric Vergne to his team, who ask if it might be possible to switch to dry tires. This doesn’t prevent the lap times from improving. With 20 minutes to go before the checkered flag, Lewis Hamilton sets the benchmark time at 1:36.159. Jean-Eric Vergne moves up to 5th position with the additional set of hard tires provided by Pirelli for this Grand Prix. On the next lap, the Frenchman takes the best time with 1:34.710. With 10 minutes left in the session, Ricciardo displaces his teammate from the top spot. The Australian clocks in at 1:29.602 with the hard tires that will be used during the race. Many drivers make the same choice, and the hierarchy continues to evolve.

It is finally Fernando Alonso who finishes this first practice session ahead of everyone with a time of 1:25.252. Felipe Massa is second and Jean-Eric Vergne completes the top 3.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix: