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Elated Webber wins first F1

Elated Australian Mark Webber shrugged off a drive-through penalty to win the German Grand Prix on Sunday and end his long wait for Formula One success. German team mate Sebastian Vettel finished second in a Red Bull one-two to cut Briton Jenson Button’s championship lead to 21 points

Live – German Grand Prix qualifying

LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)

606: DEBATE
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By Caroline Cheese

BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt at the Nurburgring: "Caroline, many apologies for my delayed greetings. BBC HQ has been up in arms this morning as Eddie Jordan arrived with news that the hotel left a hot water bottle on his bed last night. Given the bone-rattling gusts that we are being subjected to up in the mountains, the rest of the BBC crew would give anything for such luxuries. Yes I know, how the cars cope with the chilly temperatures will be much more crucial come qualifying."1008: Just seeing a thermal image of the Force India mechanics working on Giancarlo Fisichella’s car. Not sure why, although I can exclusively reveal that none of the Force India mechanics are hot at the moment. And there’s Timo Glock, his helmet bearing the words ‘GlockDog’ in gold lettering. Word.BBC Sport’s pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie: "It’ll be interesting to see if Lewis Hamilton can continue his momentum after finishing top of the timesheets in practice on Friday. Or was it simply a confidence boost for engine partner Mercedes-Benz on home turf One team principal told me yesterday that they reckoned Hamilton was just running on vapours to look good and there was no more to it than that."1002: Dark clouds overhead at the Nurburgring, and the weather forecast for today and tomorrowis not looking clever. Although I’m feeling ready for another wet race, don’t know about you.BBC Sport’s Jake Humphrey on Twitter:"BBC F1 team are in the house. Eddie Jordan forgot a jumper so is wearing a lovely BBC top. It’s still cold. Could this be Mark Webber’s pole day"1000: Green light is on and the cars are streaming out of the pits. Except Kimi Raikkonen, who’s probably had a lie-in. Oh no, here he is now.0957: If Bernie is reading this, I am also a trustworthy person. Very, very trustworthy. So if you’ve got another of those blank cheques lying around… Everyone else, manually refresh your page for the magic of moving pictures (in the UK).BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "At breakfast at Ferrari this morning, I put orange juice on my cornflakes and burnt my toast. Three early starts in a row must be catching up with me. It’s gone all cloudy again, too."0951: I’ve held off as long as I can… On to politics. Bernie Ecclestone has told the Times newspaper that Max Mosley will not go back on his promise to step down as FIA boss. "He’s an honourable person," says Bernie. "I’ve always said Max can have a cheque signed by me, without any name or amount on it, because he’s a trustworthy guy."0947: Mark Webber was the quickest man in first practice yesterday, but Sebastian Vettel was the faster of the two Red Bulls in the afternoon. It literally hurts me to support an Aussie, but I’ll make an exception for Webber. I’d like to see him win one too.

Text in your views on 81111

From Andy via text on 81111: "Be great to see Webber get a win this weekend. Top bloke!"Force India on Twitter:"Weather much better this morning, warmer and sunny. Chance of rain later."BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson at the Nurburgring: "The Eifel mountains looked lovely this morning, with large patches of blue sky and cotton wool clouds. Could we be in for a rare dry Nurburgring day"0943: McLaren have gone four races without a point, and Lewis Hamilton has failed to get out of first qualifying for the last three, so the team have rushed ahead with new aero parts for Hamilton’s car, with one mechanic apparently working 36 hours flat out. Heikki Kovalainen, though, is stuck with the old package.0938: Before qualifying, we’ll warm up with a bit of final practice at 1000 BST. Lewis Hamilton went quickest in second practice yesterday in a move that was probably designed to please Mercedes at their home track. But Hamilton seems pleased with his hastily revamped McLaren. "We’ve still got a long way to go but, most importantly, these new upgrades are pushing us in the right direction"0930: Hello. Some would say you’ve got too much sport to choose from today. But let me tell you this: it’s going to rain all day in Cardiff, and today’s stage in the Tour de France will see the riders string out on the way up the hill and then catch each other up on the way down again. Something like that anyway. So stick with me, I’ve got qualifying thrills and spills for you


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Lewis Hamilton fastest in practice

• Briton unexpectedly tops standings at Nürburgring
• Sebastian Vettel third fastest ahead of Jensen Button

Lewis Hamilton pulled off a major surprise by setting the fastest time in practice for Sunday’s German grand prix. The world champion had the No1 alongside his name, to match that on his car, for only the second time in practice in what has so far been a season to forget.

Hamilton had suggested yesterday that little would change in the wake of a wretched sequence of results which has seen him fail to make the second round of qualifying at the last three grands prix.

With just nine points from eight races to date, Hamilton currently trails the championship leader Jenson Button by 55 points, with McLaren’s focus already starting to switch towards next season. Yet the 24-year-old found himself out in front at the end of the two 90-minute sessions at the Nürburgring – the scene of the worst accident of his career two years ago when he his car ploughed nose first into a barrier at 175mph.

Despite a late spin, Hamilton put up a time of 1min 32.149sec that no-one was able to better in the closing stages, pushing Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel down into second.

Vettel had looked set to cheer his home fans by taking top spot, but the 22-year-old was 0.182sec adrift. Button was third in his Brawn, just 0.220sec down, whilst Mark Webber – fastest in the morning session – had to settle for fourth in his Red Bull, 0.331sec behind Hamilton.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli again fared well in fifth, and with the gremlins taken care of after a truncated morning run, Adrian Sutil was sixth in his Force India. It was an up-and-down day for Force India, as Giancarlo Fisichella, who was also sixth in the morning, crashed out in the afternoon when he spun into a barrier, ripping off his nose cone.

There was also drama in the paddock when German police attempted to impound the team’s assets due to a contractual dispute just before first practice. The situation was swiftly resolved by Force India officials, with the promise their weekend will continue without further disruption.

Behind Sutil, Button’s Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello was seventh, with Renault’s Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet sandwiching Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima in eighth, ninth and 10th.

The Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were 12th and 16th, with the latter’s Finnish compatriot Heikki Kovalainen 17th in his McLaren, 1.575sec behind team-mate Hamilton.

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