Formula One news
Red Bull top first Silverstone practice
19 June 2009 / Results / PhotosThe Red Bull Racing team has finished first and second in the first practice session of the weekend at Silverstone. Germany's Sebastian Vettel led the way from team-mate Mark Webber, as the Milton Keynes-based squad hopes to get a jump on Brawn GP this weekend. Championship leader Jenson Button finished the session in third place ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello.
Spectators in Northamptonshire, or Buckinghamshire depending on their position around the circuit, experienced cool ambiant temperatures of just 14°C (57°F) as practice began at 10am local time in England. As the paddock buzzed following the news of FOTA's breakaway series this morning, drivers struggled throughout the session as the cool weather resulted in track surface temperatures of 21°C (70°F), similar to those witnessed in winter testing.
Vettel's final lap saw the Red Bull, containing a new front wing and engine cover as well as modified rear diffuser and wheelbase this weekend, move atop the timesheets with 1.19.400, which could have been faster had the German not been slowed by Sébastien Buemi's Toro Rosso at Brooklands on his penultimate flying lap. Behind Vettel, team-mate Mark Webber - who remained fastest for some time towards the end of the session - eventually finished two tenths of a second slower with a huge margin of eight tenths between himself and championship leader Jenson Button in third. The second Brawn of Rubens Barrichello wound up just 15 thousandths slower than his team-mate and fourth fastest.
The first man behind the Red Bull/Brawn lock-out of the top four was Fernando Alonso's Renault which, incredibly, was a full second down on the fastest time. The Spaniard escaped a mistake at the end of the session to do no more than run wide across Copse's asphalt run-off area. His team-mate was less fortunate, as Nelson Piquet was the first Renault to run-wide, in-turn following a high-speed spin at Copse which picked up no major damage on his way to the third slowest time.
In sixth place was the leading Ferrari of Felipe Massa, ahead of Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton, whose McLaren finished higher than expected in eighth whilst making use of metalic paint in order to better analyse the MP4-24's aerodynamics. Rounding out the top ten were the Williams of Nico Rosberg and the first Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella, in a strong session for the local team with Adrian Sutil right behind and 11th fastest.
Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari had a less sucessful session than that of his team-mate's and concluded the morning running in 14th, two places ahead of Timo Glock who spun twice during the session; two unusual spins for the German came at Club corner and Becketts, picking up no visible damage and returning to the pits on both ocassions. Robert Kubica's BMW was the slowest of the 20 cars and almost two and a half second slower than Webber.
Second practice this afternoon can also be followed live on GPUpdate.net, getting underway at 2pm local time (BST / GMT +1).
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