Fernando Alonso was the man to beat at the Nurburgring on Friday morning as he edged ahead of the two Red Bull racers.
Alonso said ahead of this weekend's German GP that he was out to prove that Ferrari's race-winning British GP pace was not a one-off - and he went some way towards doing that on Friday morning.
The Spaniard, who claimed his first victory of the campaign at Silverstone, clocked a 1:31.894 around the Nurburgring circuit in Practice One, putting him 0.323s up on Mark Webber.
Sebastian Vettel was third quickest ahead of Felipe Massa while early pace-setter Lewis Hamilton dropped to fifth place, over a second short of Alonso's P1 time.
Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil were next in line while fellow Germans Nico Hulkenberg and Michael Schumacher completed the top ten.
Report: Track temperature was sitting at just 18'C with clouds overhead as first practice for the German GP got underway at the Nurburgring. Heikki Kovalainen, Jerome D'Ambrosio and Sergio Perez led out the field for their installation laps. Nick Heidfeld ventured out with his R31 decked out in flow-vis paint as the team debuted their new rear-facing exhaust package. D'Ambrosio also has flow-vis paint on his diffuser while Karun Chandhok is short a left-hand mirror after the glass fell out on his installation lap.
Heidfeld set the first time of the morning, crossing the line with a 1:38.313 before improving by half a second. Nico Rosberg took second, a tenth off the pace, and two seconds up on Jaime Alguersuari and Sergio Perez. Rosberg continued lapping, taking the P1 slot with a 1:35.751.
Lewis Hamilton was the next to lead the way, 0.130s up on Rosberg, while Michael Schumacher took third place. Hamilton lowered the benchmark to a 1:33.576 before taking a further six-tenths off his time. Mark Webber hit the track, slotting into fourth place while Sebastian Vettel took P9 on his first timed lap. Webber moved up to second, Vettel to fourth and Vitaly Petrov took fifth place.
Vettel took over from Hamilton at the front with a 1:32.760. Fernando Alonso went fifth quickest with Jenson Button P6 and Felipe Massa P10. Alonso and Button both leapfrogged Rosberg while Vettel took two-tenths off his P1 time. Alonso continued lapping, using the soft tyres, to move up to second and then first, 0.497s up on Vettel, before Webber also jumped ahead of his team-mate.
With drivers pushing hard in the final 15 minutes, Schumacher ran wide, Perez ran wide, D'Ambrosio took a rather painful ride over the kerbs and Heidfeld pitted with the bodywork of his R31 overheating around the new exhaust. Schumacher had a second off as he lost the rear of his W02 on the entry to the right-hander, putting him the gravel trap. He was, however, able to make his way out and continue on his way. Kovalainen was another to venture through the gravel.
The session ended with Alonso going even quicker and Sebastien Buemi have a very narrow escape after hitting the gravel trap side on and being launched into the air.
Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m31.894 30 laps
02. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m32.217 + 0.323 24 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.268 + 0.374 27 laps
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.681 + 0.787 23 laps
05. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.996 + 1.102 18 laps
06. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.628 + 1.734 22 laps
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m33.787 + 1.893 33 laps
08. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.832 + 1.938 27 laps
09. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m33.858 + 1.964 26 laps
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m33.863 + 1.969 31 laps
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m34.094 + 2.200 22 laps
12. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.115 + 3.221 23 laps
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.371 + 3.477 20 laps
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m35.389 + 3.495 24 laps
15. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m35.444 + 3.550 22 laps
16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.371 + 4.477 22 laps
17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m36.392 + 4.498 29 laps
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m36.842 + 4.948 29 laps
19. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.882 + 4.988 27 laps
20. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m38.504 + 6.610 22 laps
21. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m38.765 + 6.871 19 laps
22. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m39.279 + 7.385 24 laps
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m40.109 + 8.215 23 laps
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m40.428 + 8.534 22 laps
