Romain Grosjean topped a rain soaked first practice for the British Grand Prix on Friday having headed out at the start of the session when conditions were best.
As the session progressed the rain continued to fall with only brief respite, but despite that, the drivers all headed out to complete a handful of laps to the delight of the record 80,000 crowd.
With the entire race weekend expected to follow Friday’s weather pattern, drivers were forced to explore the limits which saw a handful of spins and off track excursions as a result.
Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton completed the three fastest cars.
Whilst Ferrari’s Felipe Massa explored the conditions, finishing fifth fastest and completing seven laps, team-mate Fernando Alonso thought better, only venturing out for a handful of installation laps which put him 22nd ahead of Paul di Resta and Jules Bianchi for Force India.
2012 British GP FP1 Results:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:56.552 | 13 | |
| 02. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:56.827 | +0.275 | 10 |
| 03. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:57.174 | +0.622 | 6 |
| 04. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:57.664 | +1.112 | 11 |
| 05. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:58.119 | +1.567 | 7 |
| 06. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:58.463 | +1.911 | 7 |
| 07. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:58.483 | +1.931 | 19 |
| 08. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:58.493 | +1.941 | 10 |
| 09. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:58.942 | +2.390 | 8 |
| 10. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:59.076 | +2.524 | 12 |
| 11. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:59.414 | +2.862 | 11 |
| 12. | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:59.614 | +3.062 | 9 |
| 13. | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:59.733 | +3.181 | 7 |
| 14. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | 1:59.787 | +3.235 | 10 |
| 15. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 2:00.125 | +3.573 | 5 |
| 16. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 2:00.253 | +3.701 | 6 |
| 17. | J. Button | McLaren | 2:01.834 | +5.282 | 6 |
| 18. | T. Glock | Marussia | 2:01.835 | +5.283 | 6 |
| 19. | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 2:04.341 | +7.789 | 9 |
| 20. | D. Clos | HRT | 2:05.022 | +8.470 | 11 |
| 21. | C. Pic | Marussia | 2:11.760 | +15.208 | 6 |
| 22. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 4 | ||
| 23. | P. di Resta | Force India | 3 | ||
| 24. | J. Bianchi | Force India | 1 |
