Barrichello fastest in first Valencia practice

Rubens Barrichello and Brawn GP topped the timesheets as Formula One blasted back into action in Valencia. The Brazilian driver finished fastest from the McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton with the second Brawn of championship leader Jenson Button in fourth position.

The green pit lane exit light in Valencia signalled the end of the four-week summer break for Formula One between the Hungarian and European Grands Prix. This weekend is significant for a number of reasons; most notably, Romain Grosjean steps into the seat formerly held by Nelsinho Piquet at Renault and Luca Badoer is present to cover for Felipe Massa at Ferrari.

As track surface temperatures hit highs of 35°C (95°F), Barrichello set the pace with a best effort of 1:42.460 in the Brawn, which is a team looking to be back on top this weekend after a slump in form at the last three races; it was not all good news for the Brazilian, however, who found himself stuck in gear during the final minutes and was subsequently forced to return to the pits.

Behind the leader were the two McLarens, on the back of a first win of the season in Hungary almost a month ago; Heikki Kovalainen led the way this time with the knowledge that on-track performances must improve to retain his drive for 2010 - the Finn was a tenth and three quarters down on Barrichello with World Champion Lewis Hamilton in the top three. A number of drivers, not least Kovalainen, struggled for grip at the final corner as the large run-off area spared cars.

Championship leader Jenson Button wound up fourth to confirm a top four lock-out for Brawn and McLaren as the Red Bull Racing cars finished the one and a half hour session fifth and eighth with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at the wheel; between the duo were a highly impressive Adrian Sutil in a highly upgraded Force India car and the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima. World Champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen completed the top ten for Renault and Ferrari respectively, although the former did have an off-track moment at Turn 2.

Sébastien Buemi experienced a spin and was just outside the top ten for Toro Rosso as team-mate Jaime Alguersuari, the second Spaniard in the field, finished the session in 13th position. New boy Grosjean achieved a respectable 17th place on his first ever Formula One outing although Toyota appear to be struggling with only 18th and 19th spots for Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock. The Ferrari of Luca Badoer has work to do after finishing 3.3 seconds down on Barrichello and in 20th place.

Second free practice for the European Grand Prix will begin at 2pm local time in Spain (BST +1 / GMT +2) and can be followed live courtesy of GPUpdate.net's live report.

Source: GP Update