Jenson Button was one of the first drivers to set a competitive time in first practice. He remained on top until the end of the session as intermittent rain kept the drivers guessing throughout the 90 minutes of running.
As McLaren tested an extensive upgrade including new sidepods, Button put in a 1’16.595 to go quickest early on. That remained the top time until the end of the session as three separate showers fell during practice.
The tricky conditions caught out several drivers, particularly at turn 12 where the likes of Heikki Kovalainen, Mark Webber and Dani Clos skirted disaster.
Jean-Eric Vergne has a huge moment at turn one, the Toro Rosso driver amazingly catching a car which seemed certain to break away from him completely.
When the rain stopped in the final minutes most of the drivers returned to the track to run until the chequered flag. Times began to fall as the track improved and Lewis Hamilton came closest to beating his team mate.
Button’s time might have been beaten had Williams test driver Valtteri Bottas not crashed at the hairpin in the Motodrom section with a few minutes remaining in the session, bringing out the yellow flags.
Despite the rain, teams persevered with some significant upgrades. There was considerable interest in the new air intakes on Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus, which spent most of the session doing single runs without setting a time. His best lap was set while Bottas’s car was being recovered.
Kamui Kobayashi also had an array of sensors behind his left-rear wheel and was doing fixed-speed runs.
Early in the session McLaren appeared to be running a pair of rear-facing lights on their car to examine their latest update.
2012 German Grand Prix
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- German GP Driver of the Weekend: Fernando Alonso
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- Clear win for Ionutf1fanatic in Predictions Championship
- Top ten pictures from the 2012 German Grand Prix
Image © McLaren/Hoch Zwei
BasCB (@bascb)
20th July 2012, 10:51
I think McLaren will be satisfied that they got a couple of good laps in when it was still dry. And so far its looks as if the parts are working, at least not being a disaster.
Nice to see everyone testing a lot of new bits on track so they can get them finalized before the summer break
@HoHum (@hohum)
20th July 2012, 23:30
@basCB,” backward facing lights” if they manage to bend light around the bodywork the others wont see them for dust ;-p
BasCB (@bascb)
21st July 2012, 8:44
HaHa, :-)
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
20th July 2012, 10:52
I know McLaren have brought an aerodynamic upgrade package for Hockenheim, but the first thing I noticed was that the Lucozade sponsorship has been replaced by a Maximuscle decal, another of GSK’s brands. Which is interesting given that rumours of Coca-Cola sponsoring McLaren were debunked over the presence of Lucozade on the car.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
20th July 2012, 11:58
Done because GSK have just released Maximuscle in Germany. Makes sense really for them to use the space to promote something relevant. Also suggests that GSK may be prepared to increase their sponsorship involvement if Vodafone really do pull the plug. The Coca-Cola thing was just wishful thinking by fans.
BasCB (@bascb)
20th July 2012, 12:17
I understood the Coca Cola thing was hitched up several times by Bernie’s pet website, so I guess it was a lot to do with either talking up the worth of F1, which fits too with recent publications from same source about how many of the worlds’ top brands are in F1 (or were, as they included both Toyota and BMW!) or its about fishing for interest from US sponsors towards the complete series and esp. the US races that are coming.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
20th July 2012, 12:37
Just because a story – any story, and not just this one – is posted on Bernie’s favourite website, that doesn’t mean that it came from Bernie to fulfil a political agenda.
BasCB (@bascb)
20th July 2012, 12:56
Sure @prisoner-monkeys, but given the fact that there are hardly any details on any such deal and many reliable sources who have clear indications that no such deal is even being talked about on the cola thing points to another background then good journalism for them.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th July 2012, 12:31
It looked more like spurious reporting to me.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
20th July 2012, 12:49
Probably a bit of both. Speculative reporting by the media, picked up on by eager fans who liked the sound of it.
Knightmare (@knightmare)
20th July 2012, 11:06
Has Button found the sweet spot?? Fingers crossed !
Todfod (@todfod)
20th July 2012, 12:38
Like he did in FP sessions in Valencia and Monaco.
Oblong_Cheese (@oblong_cheese)
20th July 2012, 11:10
As long as Vettel isn’t taking points away from Mark, I will be happy with the outcome of this weekend. ;-)
nivek252 (@nivek252)
20th July 2012, 11:10
Nico, Fuel out!!!!!!!
http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-photos/8652/2012-german-formula-1-grand-prix-friday/204540/#/204540
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th July 2012, 11:14
@nivek252 Oops!
vickyy (@vickyy)
20th July 2012, 11:20
What is that?
Krišjānis (@maldikons)
20th July 2012, 11:25
Custom made air intake restrictor plate?
BasCB (@bascb)
20th July 2012, 12:18
:-)
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
20th July 2012, 11:21
Pretty much expected that from McLaren but the rain has skewed it a little bit. Let’s see what the afternoon brings.
Looking forward to pics of the E20!
BasCB (@bascb)
20th July 2012, 12:26
here you go then, thanks to Sutton images
maxthecat
20th July 2012, 11:25
Can’t read anything into this, Buttons lap was set early before the rain, no one really pushed for the entire session either.
By the way, SKYSPORTS F1 is free to all sky/virgin customers this weekend.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th July 2012, 12:32
It was in the forum and round-up a few days ago:
UK Sky and Virgin customers can watch German GP at no extra cost
Chalky (@chalky)
20th July 2012, 13:01
Typical. The one chance I get to see what Sky Sports is like, and I’m not around to watch it. :(
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th July 2012, 13:11
@chalky You’re not missing much – FP2 is underway at the moment and heavy rain is keeping anyone from running:
https://www.racefans.net/f1-information/f1-live/f1-fanatic-live-2012-german-grand-prix-practice/
eskopeso
20th July 2012, 11:26
@keithcollantine, should that have “driver” in there “…the Toro Rosso amazingly…”?
Shame for Bottas, but gladly he didn’t give the engineers too much work, and I guess it’s an inevitable learning experience when you start pushing too eagerly.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
20th July 2012, 12:33
Got it, thanks.
Eleanore (@leucocrystal)
20th July 2012, 13:22
Apparently they replaced “everything from the engine backwards” on Bruno’s car, so I’d call that a good bit of work.
@HoHum (@hohum)
20th July 2012, 23:38
@leucocrystal, sounds worse than it is.
Eggry (@eggry)
20th July 2012, 13:25
No more rain!!