Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton suffered a costly crash in practice for the German Grand Prix on Friday while rivals Ferrari and Red Bull showed off their speed. McLaren's Hamilton had to sit out all but 12 minutes of the afternoon session, which ended with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on top, after skidding off and smashing sideways into the tyre wall before lunch.
The 2008 world champion, a winner at Hockenheim in 2008, still managed to set the seventh fastest time despite completing just 10 laps after lunch to add to the eight he did in the morning.
Team mate Jenson Button, the reigning world champion who is 12 points behind the younger Briton, ended the first session third fastest but was only 15th in the second. Overall leaders McLaren had hoped to get some testing miles on their new floor and 'blown diffuser' but the wet conditions made that difficult. While they struggled, Ferrari and Red Bull filled the top four places. Ferrari's double world champion Fernando Alonso was fastest with a lap of one minute 16.265, 0.029 quicker than home favourite Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull.