It was Nico Rosberg that topped the time-sheets on a very dusty Valencia circuit on Friday morning ahead of the two McLarens.
The session was red-flagged 35 minutes in after Bruno Senna’s wing mirror flew off and was run over by the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi leaving debris on the racing line.
It took the marshalls 11 minutes to clear the track and for the session to get going again with the top-spot changing hands only a few times before being clinched by the Mercedes driver.
Red Bull are running their F-Duct system this weekend which, thus far, hasn’t proved to have been any advantage to them.
Ferrari have bought their interpretation of Red Bull’s blown rear wing to Valencia which has seen Felipe Massa gain more of an advantage out of the device than Alonso appears to have.
European Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1:41.175 | 16 |
| 02 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +0.164 | 19 |
| 03 | J. Button | McLaren | +0.208 | 21 |
| 04 | R. Kubica | Renault | +0.540 | 20 |
| 05 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +1.007 | 21 |
| 06 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +1.041 | 24 |
| 07 | M. Webber | Red Bull | +1.100 | 17 |
| 08 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes GP | +1.137 | 18 |
| 09 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +1.246 | 22 |
| 10 | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1.288 | 21 |
| 11 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | +1.532 | 23 |
| 12 | V. Petrov | Renault | +1.787 | 17 |
| 13 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +2.135 | 23 |
| 14 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | +2.205 | 19 |
| 15 | P. de la Rosa | BMW Sauber | +2.222 | 21 |
| 16 | P. di Resta | Force India | +2.262 | 18 |
| 17 | K. Kobayashi | BMW Sauber | +2.554 | 21 |
| 18 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +3.008 | 21 |
| 19 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | +3.316 | 21 |
| 20 | T. Glock | Virgin | +4.478 | 23 |
| 21 | B. Senna | Hispania | +5.948 | 17 |
| 22 | J. Trulli | Lotus | +6.110 | 18 |
| 23 | C. Klien | Hispania | +6.168 | 14 |
| 24 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | +6.181 | 24 |
(All timing unofficial and provisional)
