Spanish GP, Free Practice 1: Hamilton in the lead

Best time for Lewis Hamilton in the first free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. The McLaren Mercedes driver preceded his teammate Jenson Button.

Red Bull was the first team to record good performances and Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel seemed headed towards a double. But first Michael Schumacher and then Button, then Hamilton, beat the 1.22 of the two Red Bulls.

Button and Schumacher set their best times a few minutes before Hamilton turned in 1.21.1. There was no improvement in the final half hour as the teams then concentrated on running with high fuel loads.

Nico Rosberg completes the top 6 with Mercedes while Fernando Alonso with Ferrari is inserted between the Renaults of Kubica and Petrov. Kamui Kobayashi closes the top 10.

Paul di Resta set the 13th fastest time for Force India, replacing Adrian Sutil in the first session as part of his role as test driver. Christian Klien returned to F1 today as a test driver for HRT, finishing 22nd fastest and half a second faster than his teammate Bruno Senna.

Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest of the new teams with the 18th time, almost a second faster than Jarno Trulli and two seconds behind the other teams.

Timo Glock drove the updated Virgin and finished 20th fastest. Williams also brought only a revised car, entrusted to Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian finished 16th fastest despite a problem with the lubrication system.

Gearbox problem for Pedro de la Rosa.

Pos Driver Team Lap Time
 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.134 21
 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.672 + 0.538 14
 3. Schumacher Mercedes 1:21.716 + 0.582 12
 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:22.011 + 0.877 27
 5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:22.026 + 0.892 22
 6. Rosberg Mercedes 1:22.070 + 0.936 19
 7. Kubica Renault 1:22.202 + 1.068 22
 8. Alonso Ferrari 1:22.258 + 1.124 19
 9. Petrov Renault 1:22.397 + 1.263 23
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.492 + 1.358 26
11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:22.588 + 1.454 24
12. Massa Ferrari 1:22.975 + 1.841 22
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:23.030 + 1.896 21
14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:23.110 + 1.976 31
15. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:23.284 + 2.150 19
16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:23.312 + 2.178 22
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:23.471 + 2.337 20
18. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:25.329 + 4.195 17
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:26.244 + 5.110 20
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.340 + 5.206 23
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:26.694 + 5.560 24
22. Klien HRT-Cosworth 1:27.250 + 6.116 26
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:27.752 + 6.618 27
24. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari No time 3