Mixed Emotions for Williams

The German and teammate Mark Webber headed the timesheets for much of the afternoon session at a blistering hot Nurburgring but the Australian spun off the track and then Heidfeld stopped close to the pitlane on his 14th lap.

Heidfeld is hoping for great things at his home Grand Prix after finishing second at Monaco last week and standing on the podium alongside Webber, who was third, in the BMW-powered team's best performance of the season to date.

"Not as planned for the first day," said technical director Sam Michael. "On Nick's car we suffered a drive line failure, which we are investigating now, and Mark ended up in a gravel bed.

"We will check his car and data later on when the car is back in the garage. It is now going to be difficult for us to make our tyre choice, but, we have some data from the runs Nick did. Tonight we will work through this tyre data and the set-up."

Webber apologised to his team after his error, which cost him valuable track time, having completed just seven laps in the afternoon.

"We had started work for the second session but, after only seven laps, I lost the car at the entrance of a corner and could not get back on track because I'd ended up in the gravel," Webber said.

"That was the end of my day. I am sorry for the team but I am sure we'll get back tomorrow."