Grosjean on top after very wet first free practice in Silverstone

Romain Grosjean put Lotus at the top of the times after a wet opening practice session at Silverstone on Friday morning. The Enstone team’s Dark Knight-branded E20 lapped in 1m 56.552s to beat Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo by 0.275s. The session was wet throughout, and everyone ran Pirelli’s blue-coded full wets.

Ricciardo lapped in 1m 56.827s to head Lewis Hamilton for McLaren on 1m 57.174s, Sergio Perez for Sauber on 1m 57.664s, and then came a gaggle of drivers in the 1m 58s led by Felipe Massa’s Ferrari on 1m 58.119s, then Mark Webber’s Red Bull on 1m 58.463s, Kamui Kobayahi’s Sauber on 1m 58.483s, Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes on 1m 58.493s and Nico Rosberg’s sister car on 1m 58.942s.

Jean-Eric Vergne then led another close group which comprised his Toro Rosso on 1m 59.076s, Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull on 1m 59.414s, Vitaly Petrov’s Caterham on 1m 59.614s, Valtteri Bottas’s Williams on 1m 59.733s and Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham on 1m 59.787s.

The Red Bulls ran with Wings for Life logos comprising photographs of 25,000 fans who had contributed to the spinal charity for the privilege of having their likeness on the cars this weekend.

Pastor Maldonado led the next bunch for Williams with 2m 00.125s, chased by Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus on 2m 00.253s, Jenson Button’s McLaren on 2m 01.834s, Timo Glock’s Marussia on 2m 01.835s, Pedro de la Rosa’s HRT on 2m 04.341s, reserve Dani Clos’s sister car on 2m 05.022s, and Charles Pic’s Marussia on 2m 11.760s.

This was mainly a reconnaissance session that just gave those who ran a guideline to the conditions. Fernando Alonso and the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and reserve Jules Bianchi did not even set a time.

There were a few incidents; both HRTs spun in Turn Five, while Kobayashi spun in Turn Three and is being investigated for a pit-lane infringement after making a last-minute move into the pits. (Formula1.com)

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  • Country Spain
  • Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (44)
  • Place of b. Oviedo, Spain
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.71 m
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