Nico Rosberg was fastest in the first practice session for the European Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver led the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button after a session which was interrupted by a red flag.
Reserve drivers Paul di Resta and Christian Klien drove during the session.
Bruno Senna lost a wing mirror from his HRT in the first half of the session. It was hit by a couple of cars, including Sebastien Buemi and Heikki Kovalainen, and the session was briefly stopped so marshals could clear the debris from the track.
Several teams tested major upgrades to their cars including Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault – all running their exhaust-driven diffusers for the first time – and Red Bull – who were evaluating their version of the F-duct.
The track was also very dusty and several cars ran wide at the first corner, taking to the escape road to avoid hitting the barriers.
Mistakes became more frequent as the session went on and drivers’ tyres became increasingly worn. Jaime Alguersuari was heard on his team radio saying the tyres were “destroyed”.
Lotus strugged with graining on their front tyres, particularly the front-left. Despite that Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest of the new teams, within one second of Alguersuari.
McLaren led the way to begin with and were half a second quicker than their rivals for a large part of the session.
Rosberg beat Hamilton’s time while testing Mercedes’s F-duct, setting the quickest time while running their rear wing stalling device.
Two teams ran reserve drivers during the session. Paul di Resta appeared for Force India in Adrian Sutil’s place, and Christian Klien took over from Karun Chandhok at HRT. The regular drivers are expected back in the cars in second practice this afternoon.
Pos. | Car | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
1 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’41.175 | 16 | |
2 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’41.339 | 0.164 | 19 |
3 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’41.383 | 0.208 | 21 |
4 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’41.715 | 0.540 | 20 |
5 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’42.182 | 1.007 | 21 |
6 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’42.216 | 1.041 | 24 |
7 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’42.275 | 1.100 | 17 |
8 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’42.312 | 1.137 | 18 |
9 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’42.421 | 1.246 | 22 |
10 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’42.463 | 1.288 | 21 |
11 | 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’42.707 | 1.532 | 23 |
12 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’42.962 | 1.787 | 17 |
13 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’43.310 | 2.135 | 23 |
14 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’43.380 | 2.205 | 19 |
15 | 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’43.397 | 2.222 | 21 |
16 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’43.437 | 2.262 | 18 |
17 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’43.729 | 2.554 | 21 |
18 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’44.183 | 3.008 | 21 |
19 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’44.491 | 3.316 | 21 |
20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’45.653 | 4.478 | 23 |
21 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1’47.123 | 5.948 | 17 |
22 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’47.285 | 6.110 | 18 |
23 | 20 | Christian Klien | HRT-Cosworth | 1’47.343 | 6.168 | 14 |
24 | 25 | Lucas di Grassi | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’47.356 | 6.181 | 24 |
2010 European Grand Prix
BasCB (@bascb)
25th June 2010, 10:56
Did anyone get some clear view of the Renault back end?
Practice went pretty much as expected, most teams waiting with doing some more running until the track gets rubbered in a little bit more.
James
25th June 2010, 11:20
Lions are still sleeping… wake up during practice 3 or qualifying :)
J
25th June 2010, 11:31
I have a soft spot for Nico. I hope he has a good weekend.
Scribe (@scribe)
25th June 2010, 11:46
Liuzzi Canada performance, I predict flash in pan, Di Resta hasn’t been in the car for nearly 4 events and still he’s only 2 tenths down on him.
DaveW
25th June 2010, 14:38
HRT have found a way to deal with the impeding offensive-moveable-wing rule: ejecting chaff into the path on oncoming cars. F1=innovation.
Phil
25th June 2010, 23:00
Keith, Kovy was only three tenths off Alguersuari, and Scribe, di Resta was only half a tenth off Liuzzi.
wasiF1
26th June 2010, 2:48
Mercedes promise a lot on Friday but they disappoint us on Saturday & Sunday. I think that Red Bull with Mclaren will be quicker & Alonso there is the top 5 for the Saturday Qualifying.
Not surprise to see Schumacher struggling as this is a track he never raced before won’t be surprise that if he is feature in the top 10 come Sunday.