Mark Webber says he expects strong competition from Ferrari in Germany after Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished the dry Friday afternoon session in Hockenheim in first and third places.
The Red Bulls were second and fourth fastest, and on a bad day for McLaren it appeared that the red cars will be RBR’s most likely challengers for the rest of the weekend.
“It wasn’t the easiest day for everybody,” said Webber. “The track conditions were pretty tricky. Also, selecting the right tyres at the right time wasn’t straightforward. But we got some information at the end there. Obviously the track was pretty dry. It was as good as you would hope in those sorts of conditions.
“The car felt pretty good. There’s some work to do tonight, but Ferrari look strong. So yeah, we’ve got some competition this weekend, and I’m looking forward to the race.”
Webber says he’s not worried if the weekend remains wet after experiencing no dramas in the morning session.
“We learned that both wets work OK, the full wet and the intermediate. Obviously the track is drying in different sections, so that makes it a bit more challenging. The tyres behaved themselves in the wet conditions.
“It’s easy to lock your brakes in the braking area, at the big stops – Turn 2, Turn 6, Turn 8, there’s quite a few places where it’s easy to get out of the line, and when you get out of the line you’re going to get out of the track. All of us looked like we took the long route at some stage today.
“I think everyone would like to have a bit more stable conditions, because it gives everyone grey hairs, including engineers, drivers, everyone. Except the fans, they love it! Apart from that, I’m looking forward to it.”
Adam Cooper F1 