The battle at the front of the pack was between Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg for the first half of the session while the two Ferraris fought over third place.With the super soft tyres bolted to his Ferrari, Fernando Alonso emerged as the leading contender, taking the P1 slot off Rosberg, who did a short two-lap run to set his best time.
But it seemed as if it was just a matter of time before Vettel would come out on top and when he switched to a qualifying-style run that's exactly what he did with a 1:13.381.
Alonso was second ahead of Rosberg and Felipe Massa.
Meanwhile, Pedro de la Rosa had a sad end to his first full practice session with Sauber as the Spaniard crashed in the final minute, causing significant damage to his C30.
Report: Track temperature was up to 26'C with a few dark clouds overhead as Timo Glock led the field out onto the circuit. Nico Rosberg was the first to set a time, the German posting a 1:16.977. He continued lapping, lowering the benchmark to a 1:15.034 before being joined by his team-mate Michael Schumacher, who was also on the yellow-banded soft tyres. Schumacher was six seconds short of his team-mate's time with Kamui Kobayashi, who crashed in Practice Two, slotting in between the Mercs.
Vitaly Petrov took second place behind Rosberg before he was dropped by his team-mate Nick Heidfeld. The Russian, though, overhauled Heidfeld on his next lap while Jenson Button claimed fifth place ahead of Pastor Maldonado. Button's next flying lap saw him improve to second place, 0.174s behind Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel went third quickest ahead of Felipe Massa.
Button continued lapping, taking the P1 slot with a 1:14.942. His reign was short-lived as Rosberg went fastest, then Vettel and then Rosberg again. Behind the leading duo the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa took turns in the P3 slot ahead of the McLarens of Button and Lewis Hamilton. The latter becoming the latest to take a trip across the grass at the Turn 3/4 chicane.
Mark Webber was the only driver not to set a time in the first half of practice as his mechanics worked furiously on his car. Reports say it was a KERS issue (again) for the Aussie.
Hamilton improved to fourth place before heading back into the pits while Schumacher completed a 12 lap run. However, the German was well off the pace, 6.096s down on his team-mate, hinting at a heavy fuel run. Rosberg, in contrast, did just two flying laps on his way to the P1 time. Schumacher ventured back out, immediately improving to seventh place. Rubens Barrichello joined the list of those who reckon their car is actually a lawnmower.
Alonso, out on the super softs, was quickest of all in the first sector, lost time in the second, and more in the third to remain P3 ahead of Massa. The Brazilian followed his team-mate out and took third place back before Alonso improved to second on his next lap but was ten-thousands of a second slower than Rosberg. Ie, they basically had the exact same time. Jaime Alguersuari tested his Toro Rosso's grass cutting techniques. Massa joined Alonso in the hunt for the P1 slot, 0.037s adrift of the Spaniard.
Alonso finally hit the front with a 1:13.701. He was soon demoted as Vettel, despite having to overtaking Rosberg out on track, hit the front with a 1:13.381. Schumacher also had some traffic and angrily waved his fist as he past a Hispania. And with the clock ticking down, Pedro de la Rosa, who is standing in for Sergio Perez, lost the back end of his Sauber out of Turn 3/4 and hit the barriers rear first before spinning across the track and hitting the barriers on the other side with the nose. The Spaniard was unhurt.
Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m13.381s 21 laps
02. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m13.701s + 0.320 21 laps
03. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m13.919s + 0.538 29 laps
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m13.956s + 0.575 20 laps
05. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.335s + 0.954 18 laps
06. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.469s + 1.088 16 laps
07. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m14.488s + 1.107 23 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m14.917s + 1.536 23 laps
09. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m15.217s + 1.836 18 laps
10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m15.243s + 1.862 17 laps
11. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m15.312s + 1.931 19 laps
12. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m15.350s + 1.969 22 laps
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.138s + 2.757 17 laps
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m16.145s + 2.764 19 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m16.236s + 2.855 21 laps
16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m16.438s + 3.057 21 laps
17. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m16.706s + 3.325 22 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m17.093s + 3.712 21 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m17.523s + 4.142 24 laps
20. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m18.910s + 5.529 20 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.073s + 5.692 19 laps
22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m19.213s + 5.832 22 laps
23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m20.475s + 7.094 19 laps
24. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault No time
Source: Planet-F1
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