For the first 40-50 minutes, the track was basically a bit of an ice rink for the cars, with Hamilton losing control and spinning off. His car just went sideways with no warning whatsoever!
Alonso was looking good in the wet conditions, keeping it on track and gradually improving his times. He's hoping for a wet race, as this will be his only chance to win or get on the podium.
The track eventually began to dry then, with some young guns putting on dry tyres and trying their luck. Enter Seb Vettel.
He is, once again, most probably doing more than his car is capable, and he's definitely having his way with his team mate, Sebastian Bourdais.
After that, all the drivers moved to dry tyres and the track began to improve massively. As the temperature in the tyres becomes hotter, with more cars moving around the track, it all helps dry out the surface of the track, and then the lap times begin to tumble.
This is if the drivers stay on the dry line, of course. There is still some dampness out on the track, as Robert Kubica found out. He spun out wildly entering the stadium section, slightly damaging his BMW. It was minimal damage, so he should be good for practice 2.
There was a bit of a rush for lap times towards the end of the session, with many cars out on track improving their lap times. The man who ended up top of the order was Lewis Hamilton, with his teammate right behind him. Massa ended up third for Ferrari.
So it's as I and everyone else thought. McLaren and Ferrari are the ones to beat.
Here are the top ten practice session one times:
- 1. Lewis Hamilton 1:15.537
- 2. Heikki Kovalainen +0.129
- 3. Felipe Massa +0.259
- 4. Fernando Alonso +0.626
- 5. Kimi Raikkonen +0.790
- 6. Nico Rosberg +1.069
- 7. Sebastian Vettel +1.081
- 8. Nick Heidfeld +1.182
- 9. Kazuki Nakajima +1.284
- 10. Nelson Piquet +1.526
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