Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel looked equally at home on the new Silverstone circuit as the old one yesterday after setting the pace in opening British Grand Prix practice.
The German won from pole on the shorter layout last year and returned on the back of a victory in Valencia at the end of last month.
The 23-year-old, who celebrated his birthday last week, lapped the 5.9km track with a fastest time of one minute 32.280 seconds with McLaren’s championship leader Lewis Hamilton 0.334 slower.
Renault’s Robert Kubica, with a new contract signed only a few days ago, was third fastest with Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber returning from his big crash in Valencia to post the fourth best time.
McLaren were trying out a new “blown” rear diffuser similar to the one pioneered by Red Bull and showed mixed results in a home race for both their world champions.
While Hamilton was on the pace, reigning champion and teammate Jenson Button was only eighth on a morning that saw all the drivers coming to grips with an unfamiliar layout.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the only driver other than those from McLaren and Red Bull to have won a race this season, was only 13th quickest.
Hamilton is six points clear of Button ahead of a race billed as a battle of the British drivers with McLaren also leading Red Bull in the constructors’ standings.
“We are hoping we are going to put it [the blown diffuser] on and it will be fine, but we know it will take a little bit of getting used to,” Button had said on Thursday. “So we are going to have a busy couple of days getting it right.”
Brazilian Bruno Senna was an absentee after being dropped by his Hispania (HRT) team in favor of Japanese test driver Sakon Yamamoto, who was by far the slowest on the track.
Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi sat out the opening session to allow Force India test driver Paul di Resta a stint in the car in front of his home crowd. He was 14th.
Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy completed 11 laps in Italian Jarno Trulli’s Lotus.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
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