Germany – Free Practice 1: Button under the clouds

The cloud cover is threatening at the green light of this first session of the weekend. As for the temperatures, they are not very encouraging for a month of July with 17°C in the air and 18°C on the ground. “There are a few showers at the moment,” indicates Kovalainen’s race engineer.

Among the third drivers, Jules Bianchi, Dani Clos, and Valtteri Bottas are enlisted, replacing Paul di Resta at Force India, Narain Karthikeyan at HRT, and Bruno Senna at Williams, respectively.

Airflow visualization spray is out at Ferrari and McLaren from the very first seconds of the session. The English single-seater features new sidepods and carries sensors under the flat floor that illuminate the underside of the car.

The track is tricky. During their installation lap, Kimi Räikkönen and Kamui Kobayashi get caught out under braking, without major consequences. The Japanese driver is the first to set a time, which is far from significant, at 1:55.569. The Sauber is fitted with the experimental Hard tires that Pirelli had made available to the teams at Silverstone, which they were unable to test due to the lack of a dry track. Jean-Eric Vergne, after his installation lap, has to undergo a brake check. His car is disassembled before going out again for a test.

After fifteen minutes, it’s Jenson Button who sets the first significant time, at 1:18.759 (Medium tires). Heikki Kovalainen and Pastor Maldonado are several seconds off the Englishman’s times, but they are also trying the experimental Hard tires. Button lowers the best time to 1:17.240 then 1:16.595, followed by Romain Grosjean (1:18.482 then 1:18.362) and Sergio Pérez (1:19.192).

The track is still green, with drivers trying to find their marks, having not had the opportunity to race there since 2010. A few drops of rain make the grip precarious. In this sense, several drivers, including Webber, Kovalainen, and Pérez, brake too late, with the most blatant mistake being by the Finn who touches the gravel trap at the entrance to the Stadium. The track is even declared wet by the officials. Most drivers return to the pits, except for Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastian Vettel.

Interesting scene at Lotus, Kimi Räikkönen’s car is surrounded by his mechanics, who are trying to cover the work being done on the Finnish driver’s car. It appears that the E20 has been equipped with a system similar to Mercedes’ Double-DRS. A Lotus team member is amused by this and shows a message written on his phone to the camera: « A lot of interest in Kimi’s car this morning… »

There are 55 minutes left, and the rain is appearing intermittently. Jules Bianchi, Jensen Button, and Michael Schumacher are caught in a more intense downpour than the others, forcing Kamui Kobayashi to go straight at Stadium and cross the gravel trap. Only Felipe Massa remains on track.

Charles Pic and Heikki Kovalainen replace the Brazilian. Valtteri Bottas is next. The Williams driver records a time of 1:20.788 (Hard tires), which does not allow him to improve his 4th time of 1:19.274, but seems to indicate better track conditions. Despite this, Jean-Eric Vergne experiences a big scare by hitting the curb on the exit of turn 1, requiring an impressive reflex to keep his Toro Rosso on the track.

Fernando Alonso, stuck in 16th position, breaks through and sets the second-fastest time at 1:17.795 (Mediums), exactly 1.2 seconds behind Jenson Button’s time. Lewis Hamilton moves up to 4th, 1:18.845 (Hard tires), while Sebastian Vettel records his first time and places only 18th (1:20.517, Hard tires). It’s evidently the time for World Champions as Michael Schumacher, also in his first flying laps, moves to 6th with 1:18.247, while his teammate climbs to 4th place with 1:17.915.

There are still 30 minutes of driving, and Lewis Hamilton runs wide in the first two corners, and for good reason, the rain is making a comeback. Kamui Kobayashi is out with a battery of sensors mounted behind the diffuser.

Fifteen minutes from the end of FP1, Pérez puts on intermediate tires, taking care not to damage them, his engineer informing him over the radio that he might need them later. The rain has stopped, and the cars on track are quickly drying the racing line. Despite this, conditions remain treacherous: Mark Webber grazes the gravel at the entrance to the Stadium. At the same moment, Michael Schumacher climbs to 2nd with a time of 1:17.382, quickly overtaken by Fernando Alonso with a 1:17.370. Meanwhile, Marussia’s mechanics have to sprint down the pit lane to recover Timo Glock’s car, which is slowing down and unable to reach his garage on its own.

In the very last minutes, the Stadium corner is under yellow flag due to Valtteri Bottas’s exit at the hairpin. The Williams driver apologizes on the radio. He locked his rear tires, spun around, and hit the tire wall backwards.

No one is therefore able to improve, so it’s Jenson Button who took advantage of a clear and rather dry track at the beginning of the session to set the fastest time ahead of his teammate and Fernando Alonso.

Results of Free Practice 1 – German Grand Prix 2012: