Schumacher fastest in rain-affected opening practice

After the three-week summer break, the F1 paddock reconvened at Spa-Francorchamps for the final part of the longest-ever season. Drivers and teams got back to work on Friday morning for a 90-minute first free practice session.

It started in sunny conditions but drops of rain soon started to fall on the track. It quickly became a proper shower, typical of the area, and was expected to last fifteen minutes. The few drivers who were out managed to make it back in the pits without drama.

At this point, most of the field had only completed some installation laps, except for the Mercedes drivers. Both Schumacher and Rosberg had already done a four-lap run and posted times on the board.

As the first third of the session elapsed, the teams were patiently waiting for the rain to stop and for the amount of standing water to decrease. Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel was the first to venture out and sample the track conditions. He took it very cautiously and completed a single lap, on intermediate tyres, before pitting.

Lewis Hamilton was next to head out, also on the blue-ringed intermediates. He came in after one lap. Alguersuari and Sutil also had a go and, while the Toro Rosso driver pitted after one lap, the German stayed out and embarked on a timed lap – on full wet tyres.

The conditions slightly improved and more drivers came out.

The session was yellow-flagged with just over thirty minutes remaining when Bruno Senna lost his Renault at Turn 9 and crashed in the tyre barrier. The rear end of the car was damaged.

No more rain was expected in the final part of the session, thus allowing for the drivers to get some serious running under their belts. Jenson Button set the pace in these conditions, leading both Red Bull drivers, but could obviously not match the lap times set earlier on – on a dry track - by the Mercedes drivers.

With sixteen minutes remaining, Paul di Resta went off at Turn 9 and ended in the tyre barrier, causing the session to be red-flagged. The impact was light, meaning there was no significant damage to his Force India.

The session resumed with six minutes left on the clock. Most of the field came out to get a feel of the drying track. Jenson Button was quickest in these particular conditions, beating Vettel by a full second. Hamilton was third fastest ahead of Sutil, Massa and Barrichello.

But it was Michael Schumacher who was quickest overall, courtesy of his early dry run. His teammate Nico Rosberg was second fastest ahead of Button.