Mark Webber has finished Friday on top at the Nürburgring, leading the way with a quickest afternoon lap time of 1:31.711. Fernando Alonso, fastest this morning, drops to second place with World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel third but three tenths of a second down on Webber. As Jenson Button suffered problems, the leading McLaren of Lewis Hamilton could manage only seventh.

Although light spots of rain threatened to affect drivers’ race setup development work, the legendary venue – which lies adjacent to the original track, last used for Formula 1 in 1976 – remained chiefly dry throughout the period, as predicted by weather forecasters.
There were immediate problems for Sébastien Buemi, with the Swiss being marooned to his garage for the entire session after Toro Rosso failed to cure a misfire. Jenson Button also missed out on some significant testing time, having to pit with an issue in relation to a new set of exhausts. Issues of another kind came for Lotus duo Karun Chandhok and Heikki Kovalainen, both of whom suffered off-track excursions.
At Mercedes, all telemetry and GPS data was intermittently lost for Nico Rosberg’s car, although Daniel Ricciardo was forced to return to the pits on foot after a suspected Cosworth engine problem forced him to pull his HRT off the circuit at Ford curve. Other dramas came in the form of a spin at the NGK Chicane for Adrian Sutil, a large lock-up for Pastor Maldonado at the same corner and Rubens Barrichello running off-track at Turn 5. There was also a close call between Alonso and Schumacher at the Dunlop Hairpin, with the Ferrari attempting to pass on the inside but ending up out of shape and on the grass as the Mercedes changed line. 15 minutes earlier, the other Mercedes of Rosberg had escaped a high-speed trip across the gravel trap at the Schumacher S.

On the timesheets, Alonso led the way after 48 minutes, trumping the previous timesheet-topping time of team-mate Massa.
Webber then moved ahead and was never headed again, with Vettel losing time in the middle sector as he came in third. Felipe Massa cemented Ferrari’s pace with fourth place as Schumacher, despite a selection of lurid moments, rounded out the top five from team-mate Rosberg.
With Hamilton seventh and a full second off the pace, the Renaults of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov both moved into the top ten – a group completed by the Force India of Adrian Sutil, whose Scottish team-mate Paul di Resta ended the day 12th.

Second free practice results - 2011 German Formula 1 Grand Prix

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1.	Mark Webber	Red Bull	01:31.711	34
2.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	01:31.879	38
3.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	01:32.084	28
4.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	01:32.354	36
5.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	01:32.411	31
6.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	01:32.557	32
7.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	01:32.724	28
8.	Nick Heidfeld	Lotus Renault	01:33.098	17
9.	Vitaly Petrov	Lotus Renault	01:33.138	22
10.	Adrian Sutil	Force India	01:33.211	34
11.	Jenson Button	McLaren	01:33.225	17
12.	Paul di Resta	Force India	01:33.299	34
13.	Sergio Perez	Sauber	01:34.113	34
14.	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	01:34.344	34
15.	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	01:34.487	37
16.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	01:34.491	35
17.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	01:34.996	35
18.	Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	01:35.753	42
19.	Timo Glock	Virgin	01:36.940	32
20.	Karun Chandhok	Team Lotus	01:37.248	33
21.	Jerome d` Ambrosio	Virgin	01:37.313	33
22.	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT	01:38.145	31
23.	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT	01:40.737	5
24.	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	no time	3

Williamson tops opening practice

Scotland’s Lewis Williamson led the way on Friday, topping the first GP3 practice session at Germany’s Nürburgring. On an overcast morning, the MW Arden driver topped the timesheets with a best effort of 1:50.766, which was four tenths faster than António Félix da Costa.

Addax man Tom Dillmann led the way in the early stages, with ambient temperatures reaching no more than a chilly 13°C (55°F); at this point, Nigel Melker of Mücke and Jenzer’s Nico Müller – who won last time out at Silverstone – joined him in the top three.
Williamson finally moved ahead in the closing minutes of the period, with Félix da Costa progressing to second as the chequered flag came out. The aforementioned Dillmann, Mitch Evans and Rio Haryanto completed the first five, with championship leader Alexander Sims in seventh position.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1.	Lewis Williamson	MW Arden	01:50.766	13
2.	Antonio Felix da Costa	Status	01:51.121	13
3.	Tom Dillmann	Addax	01:51.255	12
4.	Mitchell Evans	MW Arden	01:51.275	14
5.	Rio Haryanto	Manor	01:51.411	15
6.	James Calado	Lotus ART	01:51.458	12
7.	Alexander Sims	Status	01:51.543	14
8.	Aaro Vainio	Tech 1	01:51.571	14
9.	Michael Christensen	RSC Mücke	01:51.573	13
10.	Marlon Stockinger	Atech CRS	01:51.576	15
11.	Nico Muller	Jenzer	01:51.625	15
12.	Valtteri Bottas	Lotus ART	01:51.641	11
13.	Adrian Quaife-Hobbs	Manor	01:51.670	14
14.	Matias Laine	Manor	01:51.670	14
15.	Nigel Melker	RSC Mücke	01:51.750	14
16.	Dean Smith	Addax	01:51.801	13
17.	Gabriel Chaves	Addax	01:51.945	14
18.	Tamas Pal Kiss	Tech 1	01:52.024	14
19.	Vittorio Ghirelli	Jenzer	01:52.094	15
20.	Nick Yelloly	Atech CRS	01:52.146	15
21.	Conor Daly	Carlin	01:52.193	14
22.	Pedro Nunes	Lotus ART	01:52.253	4
23.	Zoël Amberg	Atech CRS	01:52.258	14
24.	Simon Trummer	MW Arden	01:52.277	14
25.	Maxim Zimin	Jenzer	01:52.297	14
26.	Ivan Lukashevich	Status	01:52.346	15
27.	Luciano Bacheta	RSC Mücke	01:52.783	13
28.	Thomas Hylkema	Tech 1	01:52.971	14
29.	Callum MacLeod	Carlin	01:52.978	13
30.	Leonardo Cordeiro	Carlin	01:53.317	14