Although the session started slowly due to early rain and a damp track, the final 20 minutes in the dry saw an interesting battle explode between the Red Bulls, Ferraris and McLarens.Mark Webber, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton traded fastest lap for fastest lap as they made the most of conditions while Michael Schumacher was up there but not quite.
However, the final few minutes saw Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso join the mix, with the German having the final say as he clocked a 1:15.103. Alonso was second ahead of Webber, Massa, Nico Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.
Report: As the lights went green to signal the start of the weekend's final practice session, the rain returned to the Hockenheim circuit. Red Bull informed Sebastian Vettel that it should last no more than a few minutes as others ventured out for their installation laps, taking a cautious approach due to the slippery track - although that still did not stop Adrian Sutil from running wide as he entered the stadium section.
Lucas di Grassi put in the first timed lap of the morning on a track that was partly wet and party dry. A 1:37.406 for the Virgin Racing driver. His time was easily beaten by Sebastian Vettel, who went more than seven seconds quicker. The duo continued lapping, shaving seconds off their time. Nico Hulkenberg took second place and Timo Glock third.
Nico Rosberg had his first off-track moment of the session while Sutil ran into problems, informing his team that he has a clutch problem as he crawled his way around the track, attempting to make his way back to his Force India garage. Vettel improved to a 1:24.988. The two Saubers took the challenge to Vettel with Pedro de la Rosa taking second ahead of Kamui Kobayashi. However, both were more than three seconds off Vettel's P1 time.
Kobayashi improved to within a second of Vettel's time as Michael Schumacher locked up, running off the track and thankfully not getting clipped by his team-mate in the process. Rubens Barrichello moved up to fourth place ahead of Tonio Liuzzi, Fernando Alonso, Hulkenberg and Schumacher.
Felipe Masa was the next to lead the way, clocking a 1:24.542 while minutes later Robert Kubica put his Renault up into third place. However, with 25 minutes left on the clock, ten drivers had still to set times, opting to wait until their drivers had established a more pronounced dry line around the track.
Jenson Button finally ventured out and ran wide at Turn Six but he still managed to take fourth place, 1.166s off Massa's P1 time. Sebastien Buemi also made his mark, going seventh quickest. The Toro Rosso driver continued lapping, taking the P1 slot with a 1:21.369 before losing out to his team-mate, Jaime Alguersuari.
With 15 minutes remaining, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton put in their first timed laps. Webber claimed fourth place while Hamilton went P6. Webber continued lapping, climbing to the top of the pile with a 1:20.360. Massa improved to fourth place but dropped one as Hamilton took the position off him. Button climbed to seventh.
Massa was the next to take the P1 slot but soon lost out to Webber who in turn lost out to Button. Schumacher took third place as the ever-drying track saw lap times tumble. Massa went quickest again only to lose out to Hamilton. Schumacher improved to second. Another quick lap and another P1 for Massa.
Alonso took over his team-mate at the front before he was overhauled by Webber, who then lost out to Vettel. Hamilton climbed to second place, slotting in between the two Bulls while Schumacher took fourth behind them. Alonso returned to the P1 slot, 0.049s up on Webber, however, it was his team-mate who had the final stay, Vettel taking the P1 slot with a 1:15.103. Alonso claimed second ahead of Webber and Massa.
Times:
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:15.103 18 laps
02. Alonso Ferrari 1:15.387 + 0.284 21 laps
03. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:15.708 + 0.605 16 laps
04. Massa Ferrari 1:15.854 + 0.751 20 laps
05. Rosberg Mercedes 1:16.046 + 0.943 20 laps
06. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.207 + 1.104 13 laps
07. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.473 + 1.370 16 laps
08. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:16.481 + 1.378 23 laps
09. Kubica Renault 1:16.646 + 1.543 20 laps
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.743 + 1.640 17 laps
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:16.882 + 1.779 19 laps
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.990 + 1.887 21 laps
13. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.037 + 1.934 15 laps
14. Petrov Renault 1:17.148 + 2.045 20 laps
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.220 + 2.117 19 laps
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.341 + 2.238 21 laps
17. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:17.538 + 2.435 22 laps
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.193 + 4.090 11 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.607 + 4.504 10 laps
20. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:20.533 + 5.430 9 laps
21. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:21.538 + 6.435 14 laps
22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:23.444 + 8.341 10 laps
23. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:23.873 + 8.770 7 laps
24. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2 laps
Source: Planet-F1
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