Sun turns into rain for morning Spa practice

Just when it seemed shirt-sleeves might be suitable at Spa this weekend, the Belgian skies above the Ardennes turned on wet weather for the opening practice session.

It set the scene for a very quiet morning on the track, but Jaime Alguersuari made the most of the opportunity by fitting a set of wet tires and getting his first experience of F1 action in heavy rain.

"Spa is the best circuit in the world but it has the worst weather, you never know what is going to happen here," Toyota's Jarno Trulli told the BBC. Trulli was fastest overall in the session.

Another point of interest was the goings-on at Ferrari, when the team's media chief Luca Colajanni told off Nicolas Todt for very publicly introducing his young charge Jules Bianchi to team officials.

Frenchman Bianchi, 20 and already linked with Luca Badoer's race seat, drives this year for Todt's F3 team ART.

Results

Pos

Driver Team Time Behind Laps
1. Trulli Toyota 1:49.675 +0.000 13
2. Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:50.283 +0.608 18
3. Alonso Renault 1:50.368 +0.693 13
4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:51.045 +1.370 20
5. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:51.529 +1.854 24
6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:52.321 +2.646 18
7. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:52.930 +3.255 16
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:53.383 +3.708 11
9. Kubica BMW-Sauber 1:53.650 +3.975 12
10. Badoer Ferrari 1:55.068 +5.393 20
11. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 2:03.972 +14.297 11
12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 2:04.505 +14.830 13
13. Grosjean Renault 2:05.513 +15.838 13
14. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 2:05.614 +15.939 14
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 2:05.705 +16.030 15
16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2:05.839 +16.164 10
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault 2:06.181 +16.506 6
18. Glock Toyota 2:06.331 +16.656 15
19. Vettel Red Bull-Renault . . 1
20. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes . . 4