F1-EL1: McLaren beats the rain at Hockenheim

The dry start of the session was a good opportunity for Jenson Button to set the best time of the morning with a time of 1'16"595. The rain then came onto the track even if the successive light showers allowed the drivers to keep their slick tires. McLaren, which tested many important developments such as new pontoons, is at the forefront since Lewis Hamilton is the closest to his teammate, failing less than five tenths. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) follow with seven tenths behind. Sergio Perez (Sauber) is the last driver less than a second behind the first time.

Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) finished sixth ahead of Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus) complete the top ten, the Frenchman having the old version of the E20 unlike Kimi Räikkönen who drove a car benefiting from significant changes to the rear. The Finn only completed 14 laps of the track and finished in 15th place ahead of the French Jules Bianchi (Force India), who replaced Paul di Resta for this session, and Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso). Valtteri Bottas (Williams), who replaced Bruno Senna this morning, went off the track at the end of the session at the Stadium, losing control of the FW34 which ended up in the tire wall. The Finn was improving his 13th time of the session behind Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

The second free practice session for the German Grand Prix will take place from 14 p.m. to 15:30 p.m. The risk of showers will be higher than during the first session.