Free Practice 1: Trulli is the fastest before the rain

Jarno Trulli for Toyota sets the fastest time in the first practice session for the Belgian GP. He is ahead of Jenson Button in the Brawn GP and Fernando Alonso with his R29. The Toro Rosso cars are very well placed, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel did not set a time.

It’s the Belgian Grand Prix, it’s Spa Francorchamps, so it’s not surprising that the first free practice saw rain falling for a large part of the final hour of the session. Showers began to soak the Ardennes circuit after only 28 minutes of the 90 possible. This means that only ten drivers set competitive times during the dry period.

Jarno Trulli sets his mark at 1.49.675, just moments before the first drops of rain fall on the lower part of the circuit around Stavelot. Jenson Button is the second-fastest driver for Brawn GP, having spent 10 minutes on track before the rain. His times quickly deteriorated afterward. Fernando Alonso is third, as usual, setting a time before the rain arrived.

The Scuderia Toro Rosso made a strong start as Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari finished fourth and fifth. The two newcomers were also the first to hit the track on extreme wet tires.

The Swiss driver, in particular, was indeed the fastest on wet conditions for a while, achieving a time of 2:06.067 before going straight off at Pouhon. He later returned to the track to improve his performance to 2:05.400.

It was Giancarlo Fisichella who was the most competitive after the rain appeared with a time of 2:03.972. However, he finishes in 11th place. Ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Räikkönen, Heikki Kovalainen, Robert Kubica, and Luca Badoer had time to run on the dry track. They occupy the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th positions respectively.

Several drivers, including Alonso, tried the intermediate tires towards the end of the session, but the track was still too wet. Nevertheless, Nico Rosberg and Alonso recorded very good sector times in the second and third sectors in the final laps.

Luca Badoer was the slowest of the drivers in dry conditions. The Italian went off the track a few times in the wet, but generally, he seemed more at ease than in Valencia. Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren also went wide in the last ten minutes at the ‘Rivage’ corner, but was able to rejoin the track without damage.

The bravest drivers barely completed 20 laps, like Alguersuari with 24 laps to his name. Romain Grosjean is in 13th place behind Nico Rosberg in the Williams. Mark Webber is only 17th, while his teammate Sebastian Vettel only completed his installation lap. Just like Hamilton…

See you in a few hours for the results of free practice 2 with an ongoing risk of rain.

Results Free Practice 1 – Belgian Grand Prix – Friday, August 28, 2009: