*** 2007 European GP ***

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Practice 1 Times:
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:32.515 26 laps
02 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.751 24 laps
03 F. Alonso McLaren 1:32.932 27 laps
04 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:32.975 35 laps
05 R. Kubica BMW 1:33.205 34 laps
06 F. Massa Ferrari 1:33.605 24 laps
07 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:33.825 32 laps
08 J. Button Honda 1:33.936 28 laps
09 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:34.062 25 laps
10 R. Barrichello Honda 1:34.142 25 laps
11 J. Trulli Toyota 1:34.152 34 laps
12 A. Wurz Williams 1:34.345 32 laps
13 N. Rosberg Williams 1:34.563 32 laps
14 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:34.567 30 laps
15 M. Webber Red Bull 1:34.683 22 laps
16 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:34.708 36 laps
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34.907 31 laps
18 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:34.921 21 laps
19 G. Fisichella Renault 1:35.077 22 laps
20 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.643 15laps
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:36.340 22 laps
22 M. Winkelhock Spyker F1 1:37.116 30 laps

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Friday's opening practice session at the Nurburgring, edging out Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. The McLaren rookie, who is leading the race for the Drivers' Championship title, clocked a 1:32.515 to beat Raikkonen by an impressive 0.236s. Markus Winkelhock, who is making his grand prix debut with Spyker this weekend, was the first man out on track, leading a trio of cars who all did their installation laps before pitting. Alex Wurz, Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher all came out and had their turns at the top of the timesheets before the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton emerged. Although the rookie made a mistake at the RTL curve on his first timed lap, he went on to set the fastest time on his next lap. Robert Kubica, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso filled in behind him, dropping Ralf to fifth place with Nick Heidfeld behind him. Jarno Trulli was seventh after the first half an hour with Felipe Massa in eighth place. Raikkonen, pushing hard, run very wide at the final turn, putting his left wheels onto the grass while his team-mate improved fo fifth place. Heidfeld was another man on the move, taking second place off his team-mate. However, the BMW driver was still 0.481s off Hamilton's P1 time. The German, though, continued to push, setting the fastest final sector time, which helped him close the gap to Hamilton to 0.146s. Meanwhile at the back of the field, Winkelhock had a quick spin while exiting the Mercedes Arena. The Spyker rookie bounced over the kerbs on the exit resulting in the back end of his car coming round. However, he was able to keep the engine going and returned to lapping the Nurburgring circuit. Heikki Kovalainen improved to ninth place, although was almost two seconds off the pace as, with half an hour left, only the top seven were within a second of Hamilton's impressive P1 time. Trulli, in eighth place, was 1.003s off the pace. Giancarlo Fisichella ran wide at Valvoline. The Renault driver put all four wheels onto the grass before returning to the track only to take to the gravel at the exit of the next corner. Fisichella, though, recovered and continued on his way. Alonso, meanwhile, improved to third place ahead of Kubica. However, the BMW driver fought back almost immediately, posting the fastest first sector time as he jumped both Alonso and Heidfeld to take second place. Heidfeld, though, then leapfrogged Kubica for second place, setting a 1:33.176, which put him 0.027s off the P1 time. Rubens Barrichello leapt up the order to take ninth place off Kovalainen while Massa jumped Raikkonen for fifth place. David Coulthard and Jenson Buttton were also on the move as they broke into the top ten relegating Barrichello. With ten minutes remaining on the clock, the majority of the to ten drivers hit the track on soft rubber, trying to improve their times and work on set-up. Raikkonen was the first to up the ante, setting the fastest times in sectors one and two on his way to the P1 slot. He was the first driver to get ahead of Hamilton all session long. Heidfeld followed suit, taking second place off the McLaren rookie only to be beaten by Alonso moments later. Hamilton, though, returned to the party taking P1 off Raikkonen with a 1:32.515. His team-mate Alonso improved to third place, relegating to the BMWs to P4 and P5. Coulthard split the Toyotas, taking eight place off Trulli while Wurz moved up into tenth place. Barrichello upped his pace to slot into ninth place before his team-mate Button took P8.