Free Practice 1: Webber Bests Button in Germany

The Red Bulls continued to show strong performances this morning during the first free practice session of the 2009 German Grand Prix. The single-seaters had not been on track for almost three weeks, but Red Bull and Brawn GP still seem to be the teams to beat. Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault) is ahead of Jenson Button (Brawn GP Mercedes).

The 20 drivers set off on the Nurburgring at 10 am under very chilly conditions, worse than in Great Britain three weeks ago. It’s 10°C in the air and barely 14°C on the track. Memories recall that the Brawn GP struggles in such conditions. Still, Button sets the second fastest time in Practice, nearly 4 tenths behind Webber. He is, however, 280 milliseconds ahead of Massa’s Ferrari.

The session was more complicated for Webber’s teammate. Sebastian Vettel encountered a mechanical problem just 10 laps after entering the circuit. His car, the RB5, came to a stop for undisclosed reasons at the first corner. He lost almost an hour, then went back out for 4 laps in the last 10 minutes. However, it was not enough to achieve a time better than the 8th fastest.

After 40 minutes, a light rain disrupted the trials. Trulli and Rosberg then waited for the end of the shower to fight for the first place. The two men were brought to agreement after a few minutes by Webber, who held onto the top of the timesheet.

In the end, Trulli takes the 4th position, ahead of the surprising Force India of Fisichella. His compatriot follows by 45 thousandths. Adrian Sutil is paradoxically at the very bottom, victim of a mechanical problem at the same spot and almost at the same time as Vettel. Räikkönen could have claimed 5th place as well, by recording a time one thousandth slower than Fisichella. The Ferraris are already showing their teeth.

Vettel is thus 8th, surrounded by the two Williams; Rosberg 7th and Nakajima 9th. Fernando Alonso in the Renault R29-B sets the 10th fastest time, six-tenths ahead of his teammate. Piquet is 15th.

Nick Heidfeld is 11th, ahead of Rubens Barrichello. The second Brawn GP driver could not find the performance this morning, encountering problems with his car and making some driving errors. He is ahead of Hamilton, in the first McLaren-Mercedes, and Kubica.

Worth noting the average performance of Toro Rosso, only 16th and 17th, with Bourdais nonetheless ahead of his Swiss teammate. Finally, Kovalainen and Glock are 18th and 19th.

Result Free Practice 1 – German GP – Friday, July 10, 2009: