Fuente: © Renault F1 Team (English)
http://www.renaultf1.com/

FORMULA 1 - RENAULT: Hockenheim, Free Practice 1: Renault in the mix

/noticias.info/ Fernando Alonso set the fourth fastest time of a very competitive session.




Despite private testing taking place in Hockenheim last week, all the drivers took the opportunity to cover plenty of laps this morning during the first free practice session for the German Grand Prix. Some drivers clocked up 28 laps (Glock, Sutil, Webber, Kubica), and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India managed 30.

The day started off damp, but the difficult track conditions did not discourage the teams as they decided to make the most of the wet track and collect lots of data in case there is a wet race on Sunday. The cars initially took to the track with extreme wet weather tyres, and as the track dried they quickly switched to the standard wet tyres.

After running in the damp, Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to fit dry weather tyres and went to the top of the times. Then the favourites for the weekend followed suit with the best time changing hands a good ten times before the end of the session.

In the end it was Lewis Hamilton who ended the session at the top of the times. The Briton was in front of his McLaren teammate, Heikki Kovalainen by 0.129 seconds. Next up was Felipe Massa in the first Ferrari, followed by the Renault of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard looked particularly good in the damp, but was on the pace each time he went out on track. He was followed by Kimi Raikkonen, with the Ferrari driver just a tenth off the R28.

Nelson Piquet set the tenth best time, 1.5s off Lewis Hamilton and 0.9s adrift of Fernando Alonso.

Notable moments in the session included the accident for Robert Kubica. His BMW hit the tyre wall towards the end of the session, but the damage did not seem too serious and should be repaired in time for this afternoon. Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso) also ended the session at the side of the track as he pulled off the circuit. notas_de_prensa_archivo