Vettel, the winner of last year's British Grand Prix, crossed the line with a 1:32.280 as the Formula One drivers had their first taste of Silverstone's new in-field. Hamilton finished in second place with his heavily revised McLaren, 0.334s behind, while Robert Kubica was third for Renault.
The new in-field section, though, caused some concern for the drivers and teams.
Starting at the old Abbey chicane, which has been altered, bumps in the asphalt caused several drivers to fly off the track although there is a run-off area that prevented any of them from hitting the barriers.
Added to Abbey's bumps, the asphalt was rather slippery, which resulted in the likes of Hamilton and Michael Schumacher from either spinning or sliding off the track at the Village corner.
But as the session progressed and the track rubbered in, the incidents became fewer and fewer.
Report: First practice at the new-look Silverstone circuit got underway with the track temperature sitting at 28'C and a new driver, Sakon Yamamoto, in action for Hispania Racing, who dropped Bruno Senna late Thursday. Meanwhile, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton put in their first laps in their revised McLarens, which feature a blown diffuser exhaust system and revamped rear bodywork for their cooling system.
Button broke the silence with the first timed lap of the day but lifting off marginally just ahead of the new section, which meant he crossed the line with a 1:37.994. The reigning Champ stayed out on track, shaving a massive 2.414s off his time. Mark Webber put his Red Bull into second place, 0.3s behind Button, while Virgin revealed that a fuel pick-up problem was keeping Timo Glock stuck in his garage. Jaime Alguersuari claimed third place ahead of Yamamoto, who was a massive 11s down on his first lap. The Japanese driver took three seconds off his time on his second lap while Webber overhauled Button with a 1:34.681.
With more drivers joining the action after the opening half-an-hour, the timesheets behind Webber, who had again lowered the benchmark, and Button saw plenty of changes while Michael Schumacher put in the first spin of the day as he lost the back end of his Mercedes GP at Village corner. Moments later Hamilton ran wide at the same spot. Schumacher went third quickest before Hamilton took the position off him.
Nico Hulkenberg jumped up to second place in his Williams, entering the grand prix on the back of the team's best race of the season in Valencia, while Force India test driver Paul di Resta took third place before he was demoted by Alguersuari. Schumacher had another moment, a minor off at Village, while Hamilton hit the bumps at the new Abbey corner and was forced onto the run-off.
Nico Rosberg was the next to lead the way with a 1:33.622 as Robert Kubica improved to second place. Fernando Alonso, who was running with Ferrari's new front wing, claimed eighth while Felipe Massa, who is without the blown rear wing, was 13th. Trying to improve his time and get a feel for the changes to the car, Massa ran wide at the exit of the loop in the new section of the track and kicked up a hole lot of dirt onto the track.
Kubica overhauled Rosberg at the front of the pack, however, his reign was short-lived as Sebastian Vettel took the P1 slot only for Kubica to fight back. Vettel responded with another fastest lap, a 1:32.705 for the leading German. Vettel lowered the benchmark while Adrian Sutil moved up to third place before running wide on his next lap at Village corner.
Webber climbed to second place, Hamilton hit a bump at Abbey and forced, again, to take to the run-off area. He improved to fourth place on his next lap. Schumacher, speaking on his team radio, informed his Merc pit wall of the difficulties of tackling Abbey and its bumps. Timo Glock was seen badly bottoming out over those bumps. Hamilton continued his run, moving up to second place, 0.334s behind Vettel.
The final few minutes saw a flurry of activity, however, it was cut short at Fauriz Fauzy stopped at the Loop. The session ended with Vettel on top, ahead of Hamilton and Kubica.
Times
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:32.280 22 laps
02. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.614 + 0.334 16 laps
03. Kubica Renault 1:32.725 + 0.445 21 laps
04. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:32.747 + 0.467 23 laps
05. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:32.968 + 0.688 18 laps
06. Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.318 + 1.038 21 laps
07. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:33.377 + 1.097 19 laps
08. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.519 + 1.239 20 laps
09. Schumacher Mercedes 1:33.955 + 1.675 18 laps
10. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:34.016 + 1.736 17 laps
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.132 + 1.852 21 laps
12. Petrov Renault 1:34.365 + 2.085 22 laps
13. Alonso Ferrari 1:34.490 + 2.210 20 laps
14. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:34.580 + 2.300 22 laps
15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:34.710 + 2.430 16 laps
16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:34.901 + 2.621 17 laps
17. Massa Ferrari 1:35.037 + 2.757 21 laps
18. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:35.318 + 3.038 27 laps
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:36.747 + 4.467 16 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:37.330 + 5.050 11 laps
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:37.518 + 5.238 15 laps
22. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:38.735 + 6.455 21 laps
23. Fauzi Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.510 + 7.230 11 laps
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:39.673 + 7.393 27 laps
Source: Planet-F1
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