Vettel fastest on softs in FP2

F1 Grand Prix, GP Germany, Nürburgring

Drivers tried the soft tyres for the first time this weekend and it soon showed that these don't last very long on the Nurburgring. Sebastian Vettel however was fastest on them, heading Rosberg and Webber.

FP2 is extremely busy as of the green light with 21 times on the board already after only 10 minutes of running. Alonso's car has also finally been repaired, allowing the Spaniard to get on with his job.

After 10 minutes, many drivers have already overshot turn 1 again while nobody has yet chosen to take on the soft tyre. Mark Webber is fastest at this time with a 1:32.333 laptime. Hamilton is second, Grosjean third, Massa 4th and Sutil 5th.

Jules Bianchi's session ends after only 10 laps as he is not feeling well. It turns out he has an upset stomach. The team hope he'll be fine for tomorrow but keep their reserve driver in standby.

By the halfway mark, most drivers have switched onto the soft tyre to put in a few qualifying laps. Vettel immediately emerged on top of the timesheet after the first lap on softs, completed a lap around Nurburgring in 1:30.416. Rosberg set the second fastest time on softs, ahead of Webber, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Sutil, Ricciardo, Vergne and Perez. 50 minutes into the session, Raikkonen moves up into 4th after messing up his first lap by going wide through turn 3.

Soon after it's time for longer runs. It soon emerges that the soft option tyre creates a lot of graining, making the medium the most interesting tyre to race on. On Vettel's car for instance, the soft tyre rapidly dropped off as of lap 5. The softer tyre however has a higher operating temperature, and with temperatures expected to be higher on Sunday it may be less of an issue during the race itself.

Mark Webber's pace on the medium tyre is however interesting as well, as the Australian completed a stint of 24 laps on them, with his 22nd the fastest of them. There is very consistent pace for the Red Bull on this tyre.