Despite Ferrari's improved pace, it always seemed like it was only a matter of time before Red Bull Racing hit the front in Germany.
And that's exactly what Mark Webber did in Friday's second practice.
The Australia posted a 1:31.711 around the Nurburgring circuit to beat Fernando Alonso to the P1 slot by 0.168s.
Sebastian Vettel finished in third place, a further two-tenths back, while Felipe Massa was fourth quickest.
Michael Schumacher put in a solid performance to take fifth place ahead of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heidfeld.
Report: With dark clouds overhead and showers reportedly in the area, the drivers were quickly out onto the track at the start of Friday's second practice at the Nurburgring. Jaime Alguersuari was the early pace-setter with a 1:36.498, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and Karun Chandhok.
Fernando Alonso, who set the pace in FP1, was the next in the P1 slot, almost three seconds up on Alguersuari's best. Daniel Ricciard's session came to a premature halt as the engine powering his Hispania let go. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton took second place ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Nick Heidfeld. Problems also for Nico Rosberg, who dropped a piece of bodywork and found his GPS wasn't working.
Mark Webber moved up to second place behind Alonso while Vettel took third and Felipe Mass was fourth. Kamui Kobayashi put in an early run on the soft tyres to move up to sixth place while his team-mate Sergio Perez took eighth. Vitaly Petrov joined the fight at the front, improving to fourth place but almost a second behind Alonso's best. Alonso's reign was finally ended by his team-mate Felipe Massa who put on the option tyres and went 0.218s quicker than the Spaniard. Massa continued lapping, taking a further three-tenths off his time.
Pastor Maldonado took a tour across the grass at the NGK chicane as he locked up. Still no lap time for Sebastien Buemi, who is reporting a misfire and may not go out at all this session. Massa joined the list of those locking up and running off the track as did his tema-mate Alonso.
Webber was the next to hit the front with a 1:31.770 while Alonso took second place. Michael Schumacher improved to fourth with his team-mate Rosberg taking fifth place ahead of Hamilton and the two Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta. Vettel joined the fight at the front, putting his RB7 up into third place. Timo Glock did well to keep his Virgin racer away from the wall around the gravel at Turn 5 as he lost control.
The session ended with Webber in the P1 slot ahead of Alonso and Vettel.
Times
01. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m31.711 34 laps
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m31.879 + 0.168 38 laps
03. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.084 + 0.373 28 laps
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m32.354 + 0.643 36 laps
05. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m32.411 + 0.700 31 laps
06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.557 + 0.846 32 laps
07. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.724 + 1.013 28 laps
08. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m33.098 + 1.387 17 laps
09. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m33.138 + 1.427 22 laps
10. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m33.211 + 1.500 34 laps
11. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.225 + 1.514 17 laps
12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m33.299 + 1.588 34 laps
13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.113 + 2.402 34 laps
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m34.344 + 2.633 34 laps
15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.487 + 2.776 37 laps
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.491 + 2.780 35 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m34.996 + 3.285 35 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m35.753 + 4.042 42 laps
19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.940 + 5.229 32 laps
20. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m37.248 + 5.537 33 laps
21. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m37.313 + 5.602 33 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m38.145 + 6.434 31 laps
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m40.737 + 9.026 5 laps
24. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari No time 3 laps
