The Red Bull of 2009 race winner Sebastian Vettel led the way as the first practice session took place at Silverstone on Friday morning. The German finished three tenths of a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren although a number of drivers struggled to get to grips with the rapid new Abbey Curve.
It was a highly pleasant morning in Northamptonshire on Friday as the knowledge British crowds enjoyed ambient temperatures of 23°C (73°F) and all-round bright conditions. With the track having been modified to allow for the return of MotoGP to the venue, cars now exit a re-profiled Club corner before tackling the brand-new Arena section, which feeds back to Brooklands via the Wellington Straight.
However, a selection of cars experienced bottoming out at Abbey, with their undersides clouting the ground and therefore throwing the car onto the run-off area. Hamilton went off on no less than three occasions, with both Force Indias, Kobayashi's Sauber and Glock's Virgin Racing all doing the same.
Sakon Yamamoto also ran wide as he replaces Bruno Senna for the entire weekend. Although Hispania is yet to give an official reason for the swap, a press release is expected today.
A number of teams analysed their blown diffusers for the first time, with McLaren's white section being the most obvious on the cars of English Champions Hamilton and Jenson Button, who completed the session eighth ahead of Michael Schumacher – who, incidentally, endured the only spin of the 90 minutes at Village.
Fauzy Fauzy – the third reserve driver to be taking part, driving Trulli's Lotus – was a victim of technical difficulties in the final minute; as the car pulled off at Aintree, the stationary vehicle confirmed that the session ended under yellow flags.
At the top of the timesheets, behind Vettel and Hamilton came the Renault of Robert Kubica as the second Red Bull of Webber and first Force India of Sutil completed the top five. Ferrari men Alonso and Massa ended the session 13th and 17th fastest, respectively.
The second practice session at Silverstone can also be followed live via GPUpdate.net and begins at 2pm local time (BST)
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