Kovalainen leads the way in practice 1

The McLaren driver jumped up the order with his final lap and managed to pip Rosberg's Williams by 0.059 seconds.

Emphasising McLaren's strong form, Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, ahead of Mark Webber, who had led the way for much of the morning and was in front until the final scramble for quick laps.

Webber (Red Bull) had deposed Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa at the top just after the halfway point as the major contenders finally started their first serious runs of the day following a quiet start.

The Nurburgring winner's 1m22.615s lap was sufficient to keep him in front until the final six minutes, when first Hamilton, then Rosberg went slightly quicker.

Hamilton was on course to retake the top spot just after Rosberg had deposed him, but abandoned the lap following a small error in the middle sector. Rosberg then looked set to extend his advantage, before he too lost time near the end of the lap.

That meant Kovalainen was able to grab first place away with a last minute surge that saw the McLaren vault from the lower end of the top ten to the head of the order.

Kazuki Nakajima underlined Williams' strong session by taking fifth place, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli, the two Ferraris and Fernando Alonso (Renault).

It was another low-key session for Brawn GP, with points leader Jenson Button ending up only 10th, 0.852s off Kovalainen's pace.

Debutant Jaime Alguersuari made a very respectable start to his Formula 1 career. The Spanish novice and his Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Buemi had the track to themselves for much of the first 40 minutes as others waited for the surface to clean, and by the end of the session there was just 0.230s between the duo in 19th and 20th places.

A stall at the end of the pitlane while practising a start sequence was the only blemish on Alguersuari's morning.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.278            21
 2.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.337  + 0.059   27
 3.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:22.554  + 0.276   20
 4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:22.615  + 0.337   21
 5.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:22.619  + 0.341   25
 6.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:22.705  + 0.427   17
 7.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:22.796  + 0.518   23
 8.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:22.855  + 0.577   25
 9.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:23.001  + 0.723   28
10.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.130  + 0.852   25
11.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.146  + 0.868   24
12.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.154  + 0.876   23
13.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.209  + 0.931   24
14.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:23.234  + 0.956   30
15.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:23.283  + 1.005   25
16.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.484  + 1.206   20
17.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:23.678  + 1.400   22
18.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.845  + 1.567   18
19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:23.998  + 1.720   37
20.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:24.228  + 1.950   42

All Timing Unofficial