F1: Wet First Practice Sees Kobayashi Go Fastest in Washout Session

As ever, the unpredictable weather at Spa reared its head during first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, meaning a large part of the session was a virtual washout. 

For much of the 90-minute session, a 2:17.705 lap time by Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was the only timed lap completed. Nearly all the teams stayed in their garages rather than risk any accidents in the treacherous conditions.

Save for a few installation laps—where the drivers cruise around slowly and return to the pits without setting a time—the situation at the top of the time-sheets remained this way until over half way through practice. Then, as the rain let up with around 40 minutes still remaining, we eventually saw a relative flurry of activity.

Whilst lap times began to fall, there were still some drivers who elected not to complete any laps.  Championship leader Fernando Alonso remained in the garage as did Kimi Raikkonen, with Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher (who is celebrating his 300th Grand Prix this weekend), only appearing at the very end of the session. By the time Alonso appeared, the rain had resumed and no further improvements were possible.

In the end, it was still Kobayashi who set the fastest time, improving by some six seconds from his earlier time with a 2:11.389.  Pastor Maldonado was second, with Mark Webber the highest of the championship contenders in fifth place.

There was some drama as the chequered flag dropped, with Felipe Massa suffering an apparent engine failure.

Complete Times

#	Driver		Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Kamui Kobayashi		Sauber	2:11.389		20
2	Pastor Maldonado		Williams	2:11.941	0.552	14
3	Daniel Ricciardo		Toro Rosso	2:12.004	0.615	12
4	Jean-Eric Vergne		Toro Rosso	2:12.824	1.435	15
5	Mark Webber		Red Bull	2:13.191	1.802	13
6	Sergio Perez		Sauber	2:13.861	2.472	16
7	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes	2:14.210	2.821	14
8	Valtteri Bottas		Williams	2:14.660	3.271	16
9	Sebastian Vettel		Red Bull	2:14.860	3.471	11
10	Michael Schumacher		Mercedes	2:15.402	4.013	13
11	Paul di Resta		Force India	2:15.812	4.423	11
12	Timo Glock		Marussia	2:16.409	5.020	16
13	Nico Hulkenberg		Force India	2:16.786	5.397	10
14	Vitaly Petrov		Caterham	2:16.788	5.399	16
15	Lewis Hamilton		McLaren	2:16.827	5.438	5
16	Jenson Button		McLaren	2:16.861	5.472	8
17	Charles Pic		Marussia	2:17.519	6.130	14
18	Heikki Kovalainen		Caterham	2:18.199	6.810	10
19	Pedro de la Rosa		HRT	2:19.546	8.157	12
20	Dani Clos		HRT	2:19.689	8.300	12
21	Romain Grosjean		Lotus	2:38.701	27.312	9
22	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari	2:40.749	29.360	4
23	Kimi Raikkonen		Lotus	2:46.580	35.191	9
	Felipe Massa		Ferrari			2

Timing courtesy of PlanetSport.com