Wickens sets early pace at Nurburging

The Canadian was left with a 0.583-second advantage over Epic Racing's Albert Costa in second, after a red flag annulled the final eight minutes of the hour and fifteen-minute session.

Monaco winner Daniel Ricciardo was third for ISR, ahead of 2011 double pole-sitter Cesar Ramos. Fortec has Superleague racer Yelmer Buurman on hand as a driver coach for Ramos and team-mate Alexander Rossi, as the Dutchman has several victories on the Eifel circuit to his name.

Oliver Webb claimed a promising fifth for Pons Racing, but the Briton maintained a realistic outlook for the weekend.

"I think without the red flag we would have been top ten, fifth is probably a little flattering," said Webb. "It is my first time here, and it's a great track. The tarmac is very smooth, a little like Monaco. So it doesn't give you the confidence through the steering wheel, you just have to trust the car.

"There are several corners leading into each other that can provide a false sense of security, I think that's why there were quite a few red flags this morning. Picking your braking point for Turn 1 is also tricky as it's blind, bumpy and downhill. Quite a few people were caught out, myself included."

Webb's new team-mate Michael Herck was 17th on his return to the series. The Coloni GP2 driver is preparing for the Nurburgring round of the GP2 series.

"I haven't driven this car before," said Herck. "It is really different to GP2, which has more speed and power, but it is still the closest category to GP2. My target today is to drive a lot and understand the aero'. I am very happy as I have already done 20 laps.

"We have a camera on the car to help see where I need to improve. There is a good atmosphere in the team as they know I am here to work. The priority is not to crash or get injured because I have a GP2 race in Valencia next week, then it is to make some kilometres and after that, of course, I would like to be quick."

Frenchman Nathanael Berthon completed the top six for ISR, ahead of Rossi, who led the session a little after the half-hour mark. The American is placed third in the standings, 17 points behind leader Jean-Eric Vergne.

With a maximum of 50 points on offer this weekend, Rossi will be aiming to leave Germany in the lead of the drivers' standings in order to collect a prize Lotus Renault Formula 1 roadshow run at the forthcoming meeting at the Hungaroring.

Costa, Tech 1 Racing's Kevin Korjus and Ricciardo are outside bets to take the championship lead this weekend, although mathematically the top nine drivers in the standings could claim the prize.

Making his debut appearance in the category this year, Supernova GP2 racer Fairuz Fauzy ended the morning in 17th for Mofaz.

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Robert Wickens     Carlin           1m45.530s
 2.  Albert Costa       Epic             1m46.113s  + 0.583s
 3.  Daniel Ricciardo   ISR              1m46.474s  + 0.944s
 4.  Cesar Ramos        Fortec           1m46.667s  + 1.137s
 5.  Oliver Webb        Pons             1m46.763s  + 1.233s
 6.  Nathanael Berthon  ISR              1m46.926s  + 1.396s
 7.  Alexander Rossi    Fortec           1m46.983s  + 1.453s
 8.  Anton Nebylitskiy  KMP              1m47.063s  + 1.533s
 9.  Sergio Canamasas   BVM Target       1m47.073s  + 1.543s
10.  Jake Rosenzweig    Mofaz            1m47.188s  + 1.658s
11.  Andre Negrao       Draco            1m47.192s  + 1.662s
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Carlin           1m47.194s  + 1.664s
13.  Brendon Hartley    Gravity-Charouz  1m47.253s  + 1.723s
14.  Nelson Panciatici  KMP              1m47.372s  + 1.842s
15.  Stephane Richelmi  Draco            1m47.389s  + 1.859s
16.  Sten Pentus        Epic             1m47.452s  + 1.922s
17.  Fairuz Fauzy       Mofaz            1m47.465s  + 1.935s
18.  Michael Herck      Pons             1m47.566s  + 2.036s
19.  Kevin Korjus       Tech 1           1m47.585s  + 2.055s
20.  Daniel Zampieri    BVM Target       1m47.696s  + 2.166s
21.  Daniil Move        P1               1m47.818s  + 2.288s
22.  Walter Grubmuller  P1               1m47.834s  + 2.304s
23.  Jan Charouz        Gravity-Charouz  1m48.103s  + 2.573s
24.  Daniel McKenzie    Comtec           1m48.196s  + 2.666s
25.  Arthur Pic         Tech 1           1m48.664s  + 3.134s
26.  Daniel de Jong     Comtec           1m48.689s  + 3.159s