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Hamilton tops first practice - Germany

Lewis Hamilton led teammate Heikki Kovalainen in a McLaren-Mercedes one-two in a damp first practice session for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim

Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen ended up third and fifth, sandwiching Renault's Fernando Alonso, as positions changed constantly in the latter stages as the track conditions improved.

The track had remained wet for the first half of the session, with early morning rain being followed by a further shower and drizzle shortly after practice began.

Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), Hamilton and Alonso - all on intermediates - swapped the top spot initially, with Hamilton escaping a quick spin across the grass at Turn 4 without drama or damage, before the Ferraris moved to the front after 35 minutes.

With the rain having eased off by that time, each new flying lap set a new benchmark, as times tumbled and positions changed relentlessly.

It was Vettel who led the charge for dry weather tyres as the session reached the halfway point. His first lap was still one second slower than Massa was managing on intermediates at the time, but within another three laps Vettel's slicks were up to temperature and he was 3.4 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Surprisingly, another ten minutes elapsed before most of the pack joined Vettel on dries. His Toro Rosso teammate Sebastien Bourdais was among the first to change tyres and briefly held second place, before pulling off on the far side of the circuit with a mechanical problem.

Once the whole field started using dry tyres, the order went predictably haywire, with first place changing hands 13 times in the final half hour of the session. All four German drivers managed a moment on top in quick succession, including Force India's Adrian Sutil, with both Ferraris, Mark Webber and Hamilton also taking turns to lead the way as the track became ever faster.

It looked like Massa was going to end the morning at the end of the pack, but in the closing seconds Kovalainen burst out of the midfield - having taken his time to set a flying lap on dries - and beat the Ferrari by 0.130 seconds, before being usurped by teammate Hamilton moments later.

That left Massa third ahead of Alonso and Raikkonen, with Williams' Nico Rosberg - who had been fastest on several occasions as the track dried - completing the top six.

Vettel ended the morning seventh, followed by Heidfeld, Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) and Renault's Nelson Piquet.

Although many drivers slid across the run-off areas in the treacherous conditions, Robert Kubica was the only man who made it as far as the wall. A spin entering the stadium section with 11 minutes to go saw his BMW bounce across the gravel and gently hit the barriers side-on, ending his session and leaving him at the foot of the timesheets with Bourdais.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:15.537            22
 2.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:15.666  + 0.129   19
 3.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:15.796  + 0.259   22
 4.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:16.163  + 0.626   22
 5.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:16.327  + 0.790   23
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:16.606  + 1.069   27
 7.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:16.618  + 1.081   25
 8.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:16.719  + 1.182   20
 9.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:16.821  + 1.284   26
10.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:17.063  + 1.526   26
11.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:17.108  + 1.571   18
12.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:17.131  + 1.594   28
13.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:17.185  + 1.648   28
14.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:17.268  + 1.731   11
15.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:17.471  + 1.934   30
16.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:17.500  + 1.963   24
17.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:17.556  + 2.019   29
18.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:17.784  + 2.247   29
19.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:18.779  + 3.242    8
20.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:21.506  + 5.969   16

All Timing Unofficial

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