Despite many rumours that the ban on FRIC suspension would hamper Mercedes’ performance, they showed no signs of slowing down as Nico Rosberg went fastest, 0.3 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso in third.
Lewis Hamilton wasn’t far off team-mate Rosberg in second, just six-one-hundredths of a second split the two in the opening session of the weekend.
Susie Wolff replaced Valtteri Bottas in the Williams for her second consecutive FP1 session this year, however there were fears that just like in Silverstone she would only complete the one lap.
On her out lap, Wolff reported a gearbox problem as she was stuck in gear and the problem seemed to go from bad to worse when the oil pressure light came on her dash. Wolff was able to limp back to the garage where the team was able to quickly mend the gearbox, allowing her to continue on in her session.
Wolff silenced whatever critics she had left as she finished in 15th position, just 0.2 seconds off Felipe Massa in 11th.
Giedo van der Garde also made an appearance in FP1, replacing Esteban Gutiérrez in the Sauber.
Van der Garde completed 23 laps and placed 16th at the end of the session, only a couple of tenths behind Adrian Sutil in the other Sauber. Good signs for both Sauber and Van der Garde, as he’s been linked with a full-time drive with the team in 2015.
Both Red Bull and McLaren had a good session all placing in the top 10. Daniel Ricciardo was 0.4 seconds ahead of his team-mate Sebastian Vettel while Jenson Button finished 0.2 seconds in front of Kevin Magnussen.
Lotus look like they’re going to have another struggling weekend as the E22 looked incredibly unstable through the slow corners. Pastor Maldonado seemed to have to manhandle the wheel to turn into Turn Four, while Romain Grosjean encountered problems of a different kind when his rear wing became stuck as the DRS was activated.
Friday’s second practice session at Hockenheim gets underway at 2:00pm local time (GMT +1).
2014 German Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Results:
Driver | Team / Entry | Time | Gap | Laps | ||
1. | Nico Rosberg | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W05 | 1:19.131 | 29 | |
2. | Lewis Hamilton | ![]() |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W05 | 1:19.196 | + 0.065 | 25 |
3. | Fernando Alonso | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari F14T | 1:19.423 | + 0.292 | 21 |
4. | Daniel Ricciardo | ![]() |
Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB10 | 1:19.697 | + 0.566 | 27 |
5. | Jenson Button | ![]() |
McLaren Mercedes MP4-29 | 1:19.833 | + 0.702 | 24 |
6. | Sebastian Vettel | ![]() |
Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB10 | 1:20.097 | + 0.966 | 28 |
7. | Kevin Magnussen | ![]() |
McLaren Mercedes MP4-29 | 1:20.105 | + 0.974 | 32 |
8. | Kimi Räikkönen | ![]() |
Scuderia Ferrari F14T | 1:20.210 | + 1.079 | 21 |
9. | Daniil Kvyat | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR9 | 1:20.337 | + 1.206 | 28 |
10. | Adrian Sutil | ![]() |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C33 | 1:20.505 | + 1.374 | 18 |
11. | Felipe Massa | ![]() |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW36 | 1:20.542 | + 1.411 | 19 |
12. | Jean-Éric Vergne | ![]() |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR9 | 1:20.586 | + 1.455 | 23 |
13. | Nico Hulkenberg | ![]() |
Force India Mercedes Mercedes VJM07 | 1:20.592 | + 1.461 | 22 |
14. | Sergio Pérez | ![]() |
Force India Mercedes Mercedes VJM07 | 1:20.598 | + 1.467 | 24 |
15. | Susie Wolff | ![]() |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW36 | 1:20.769 | + 1.638 | 22 |
16. | Giedo van der Garde | ![]() |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C33 | 1:20.782 | + 1.651 | 23 |
17. | Romain Grosjean | ![]() |
Lotus F1 Team Renault E22 | 1:21.603 | + 2.472 | 20 |
18. | Pastor Maldonado | ![]() |
Lotus F1 Team Renault E22 | 1:21.854 | + 2.273 | 30 |
19. | Kamui Kobayashi | ![]() |
Caterham F1 Team Renault CT05 | 1:22.572 | + 3.441 | 31 |
20. | Jules Bianchi | ![]() |
Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03 | 1:22.982 | + 3.851 | 24 |
21. | Marcus Ericsson | ![]() |
Caterham F1 Team Renault CT05 | 1:23.256 | + 4.125 | 35 |
22. | Max Chilton | ![]() |
Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03 | 1:23.299 | + 4.168 | 22 |
Images via Sutton Images and XPB Images
Josh Kruse
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