Sebastien Buemi dominated Thursday morning's running at Jerez, easily outpacing his closest rival, McLaren's Jenson Button, by more than a half a second at the top of the timesheets.
After the initial installation laps came the first red flag of the day as Nico Hulkenberg beached his Williams FW32 in the gravel at the charmingly-named Dry Sack corner. The session was stopped for roughly twenty minutes as marshals gave Hulkenberg's car a lift back to the pits.
Once underway again it was Mark Webber who took control of the session, posting a 1:26.341 to lead the way after the first hour with Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi hot on his heels.
The Red Bull racer's reign, though, was short-lived as, after a minute of rain which thankfully dissipated almost immediately, it was Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher who moved into the lead with a 1:25.116.
He too, though, was swiftly dethroned as Buemi then put in a blistering 1:22.041. The Toro Rosso racer continued to lap impressively, shaving seconds off his time to keep the chasing pack at bay.
Two hours into the session, there was another round of red flags, this time the cause was debris on the track at Turn Two. It soon emerged that the debris was actually a piece bodywork from Timo Glock's Virgin VR01, which had lost its front wing.
Not the best morning for Glock and his new team, who found themselves at the bottom of the timesheets, almost ten seconds off the pace, and with the fewest number of laps to their name, only 11.
Another team struggling for pace early on were McLaren with Jenson Button lagging at the bottom of the timesheets before he put in his first competitive lap of the morning, a 1:21.528. That lap shot Button up to second place.
Buemi, though, continued to storm ahead, clocking a 1:20.504 to extend his advantage over his rivals. He didn't have it all his own way, though, as Button once again found some impressive pace to move within two-tenths of Buemi's best only for the Toro Rosso driver to respond with a 1:20.026, extending the gap to 0.592s.
Meanwhile, twenty minutes before the break, Hulkenberg finally ventured out again with his team having spent the past hours fixing his Williams. The German had suffered a hydraulic leak in the opening hour of play.
The Williams rookie took eighth place on his first timed lap of the day, improving to third with a 1:21.823, which put him just ahead of Schumacher, who appeared to be struggling with oversteer.
Robert Kubica, who Renault opted to run instead of Vitaly Petrov, announcing they wanted their lead driver to get the most of the dry track, finished in fifth place ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard was the busiest of the drivers on Thursday morning, completing almost 80laps, including a 40-plus lap run.
Tonio Liuzzi was seventh fastest, with Webber, Kobayashi and Glock completing the timesheets.
Unofficial Times
1. S. Buemi Toro Rosso STR5 1:20.026 52 laps
2. J. Button McLaren MP4-25 1:20.618 +0.592 29 laps
3. N. Hülkenberg Williams FW32 1:21.565 +1.539 18 laps
4. M. Schumacher Mercedes GP W01 1:21.907 +1.881 60 laps
5. F. Alonso Ferrari F10 1:21.928 +1.902 79 laps
6. R. Kubica Renault R30 1:22.129 +2.103 43 laps
7. V. Liuzzi Force India VJM-03 1:23.004 +2.978 33 laps
8. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB6 1:23.164 +3.138 60 laps
9. K. Kobayashi Sauber C29 1:23.190 +3.164 39 laps
10. T. Glock Virgin Racing VR-01 1:29.964 +9.938 11 laps
Source: Planet F1
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