Mercedes veteran sets fastest lap in rainy first practice at Spa
Last Updated: August 26, 2011 11:27am
Schumacher: Put in a time before the rain came
Michael Schumacher set the fastest time in first practice for the Belgian Grand Prix after being one of just two drivers to set a time before rain intervened.
The seven-time world champion, who is celebrating 20 years in Formula One this weekend, set a lap of 1 minute 54.355 seconds around the famous Spa circuit.
Schumacher and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg both went out in the first 10 minutes of the session and the decision paid off when the rain came down early on.
Jenson Button was the fastest of the drivers who did not have any dry running as he took third place ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, but they were over eight seconds adrift of Schumacher.
Force India driver Adrian Sutil was sixth, with Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello, Jaime Alguersuari and Kamui Kobayashi rounding out the top 10.
Landmark
It was cold and damp as the session got underway and Schumacher, wearing a gold helmet in recognition of his landmark, posted the first time of the morning.
He and Rosberg continued to circulate, lowering their times before the rain came down and forced everyone into the pits.
After a long period of inactivity, some drivers eventually headed out in the wet conditions, although their lap times were inevitably nowhere near Schumacher's benchmark.
Bruno Senna's first weekend as a Renault race driver did not get off to the best of starts as he crashed backwards into the tyre barrier at the unnamed Turn 9.
Paul di Resta hit the barrier with the right side of his car at the same corner, bringing out the red flags and causing the session to be delayed by 10 minutes.
Massa and Hamilton took it in turns to claim third place after the resumption but it was Button who was to finish best of the rest when the chequered flag fell.
Times
01. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m54.355 13 laps
02. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m54.829 + 0.474 15 laps
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m02.740 + 8.385 8 laps
04. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2m03.752 + 9.397 10 laps
05. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2m04.301 + 9.946 7 laps
06. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2m04.663 + 10.308 18 laps
07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 2m04.728 + 10.373 10 laps
08. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 2m05.391 + 11.036 12 laps
09. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m06.583 + 12.228 16 laps
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2m06.886 + 12.531 15 laps
11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2m07.055 + 12.700 12 laps
12. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 2m07.481 + 13.126 15 laps
13. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 2m08.233 + 13.878 14 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m08.239 + 13.884 14 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 2m08.918 + 14.563 10 laps
16. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 2m09.792 + 15.437 8 laps
17. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2m12.278 + 17.923 13 laps
18. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 2m12.389 + 18.034 10 laps
19. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 2m12.772 + 18.417 13 laps
20. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2m13.058 + 18.703 8 laps
21. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 2m13.090 + 18.735 11 laps
22. Vitaly Petrov Renault 2m13.601 + 19.246 10 laps
23. Bruno Senna Renault 2m14.340 + 19.985 7 laps
24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 2m14.933 + 20.578 11 laps
Credit: Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
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