Brits on Pole

Red Bull served notice that they plan to spoil Jenson Button’s fairy tale return to Silverstone by dominating both Friday practice sessions for the British Grand Prix.

Running with revised nose, engine cover and axles, the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel provided the headlines on a day where the real news was not happening on the track.

Vettel said: “Everyone is extremely ambitious to beat the Brawns. I think we have done another step here, it looks pretty promising, so let’s see how it goes in qualifying.

“The last six out of seven races they have been uncatchable so maybe it is time for a change. Just prior to this race I have been in the factory and the people, they are really working flat out and pushing very hard to make the car faster and faster.”

The Brawn pairing of Button and Rubens Barrichello set the third and fourth best times in the first session but were further back in the second, the Brazilian ending it in sixth and the Englishman 14th.

Button said: “We tried a few different evaluations with the aero today and initially struggled as I had no grip in either the high or low speed corners. The wind also really affected the car’s performance today. We made improvements towards the end of the afternoon session so we have some good information to look at tonight to try and make further progress before qualifying.”

The surprise stars of the second session, in third and fourth, were Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Kazuki Nakajima of Williams. Lewis Hamilton never troubled the top of the time sheets but ended a respectable eighth and seventh in the two sessions.

“It took a while to get used to the car this morning,” said Hamilton. “It feels a little different from what we’ve been running in previous races. Generally, I’m very happy with the balance but, with a revised car and on a high-speed circuit like this, it takes a bit longer than usual to find the limit.”

In Saturday morning’s third practice session Nico Rosberg returned to his usual pace-setting ways, finishing top as so often this season. Nakajima set the second-fastest time, ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Vettel.

Button and Barrichello were 12th and 10th, with Hamilton sandwiched between them on the timesheets.

Practice two times

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull: 1:19.456 (39 laps)
2. Mark Webber, Red Bull: 1:19.597 (35 laps)
3. Adrian Sutil, Force India: 1:20.141 (41 laps)
4. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams: 1:20.209 (36 laps)
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault: 1:20.237 (36 laps)
6. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP: 1:20.244 (26 laps)
7. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren: 1:20.417 (35 laps)
8. Jarno Trulli, Toyota: 1:20.458 (40 laps)
9. Nico Rosberg, Williams: 1:20.468 (42 laps)
10. Nelson A Piquet, Renault: 1:20.608 (37 laps)
11. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber: 1:20.622 (23 laps)
12. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren: 1:20.733 (37 laps)
13. Timo Glock, Toyota: 1:20.762 (37 laps)
14. Jenson Button, Brawn GP: 1:20.767 (28 laps)
15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber: 1:20.932 (35 laps)
16. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso: 1:20.945 (36 laps)
17. Felipe Massa, Ferrari: 1:21.005 (37 laps)
18. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari: 1:21.132 (38 laps)
19. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India: 1:21.413 (40 laps)
20. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso: 1:21.668 (37 laps)

Practice one times

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull: 1:19.400 (20 laps)
2. Mark Webber, Red Bull: 1:19.682 (19 laps)
3. Jenson Button, Brawn GP: 1:20.227 (20 laps)
4. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP: 1:20.242 (29 laps)
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault: 1:20.458 (26 laps)
6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari: 1:20.471 (23 laps)
7. Jarno Trulli, Toyota: 1:20.585 (32 laps)
8. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren: 1:20.650 (26 laps)
9. Nico Rosberg, Williams: 1:20.815 (32 laps)
10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India: 1:20.838 (25 laps)
11. Adrian Sutil, Force India: 1:20.913 (22 laps)
12. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren: 1:21.029 (22 laps)
13. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber: 1:21.103 (24 laps)
14. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari: 1:21.179 (27 laps)
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso: 1:21.384 (23 laps)
16. Timo Glock, Toyota: 1:21.386 (32 laps)
17. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams: 1:21.489 (26 laps)
18. Nelson A Piquet, Renault: 1:21.525 (30 laps)
19. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso: 1:21.590 (37 laps)
20. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber: 1:21.801 (16 laps)