Formula 1: Button quickest in German GP practice, McLaren tests it’s MP4-27 on track
Jenson Button in his updated MP4-27 sets quickest lap in German GP practice!
Team McLaren’s Jenson Button set the fastest lap in the first free practice session for the German Grand Prix while testing the updated MP4-27 for the first time on the track.
Lewis Hamilton set the second quickest lap trailing by 0.498s behind his team-mate Button as both the drivers helped McLaren dominate the first practice session. Championship leader Fernando Alonso managed a third position on the timesheets and kept the Ferrari fire burning.
Team McLaren also enjoyed the first track-testing of their updated MP4-27 in the practice session. MP4-27 is one of the three 2012 Formula One racing cars to have ditched the traditional ‘platypus’ nose and was launched in February at the team’s base in Woking.
Button clocked an impressive 1m 16.595s in his MP4-27 when the tracks were completely dry. Intermittent rain showers could not help determine the racers’ form and forced teams to run evaluation updates regularly. Besides Button, the only other driver to record his lap before the rain showers was Lotus driver Romain Grosjean.
The wet tracks forced the drivers to run wide and have indicated to be the new pattern for the Sunday race. The quick short showers and warm temperatures mixed up the track surface and left the teams juggling between medium and soft tyres at regular intervals. Every driver, unsurprisingly, faced the discomfort of changing nature of the race track.
Sauber’s Perez and Kamui Kobayashi faced the maximum wrath of the rain showers and were forced to try intermediates during 20 minutes of heavy showers. However, the last 10 minutes proved to be the driest spells on the track when Hamilton quickly made it a one-two finish for McLaren and Alonso taking the opportunity to steal a third position for Ferrari.
Related:
Formula 1: McLaren chief Whitmarsh confident Hamilton will sign new deal
Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton looks for McLaren revival
Formula 1: Silverstone set for wet Grand Prix
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