With the rain coming down throughout the first half an hour of the session, the drivers had to contend with a wet track, something some handled better than others.Sutil proved to be one of the stars in the rain, as he has in the past, clocking a 1:25.701, as he managed to stick to the dry line that had formed in the latter stage of the session.
And although Massa recorded at least five off-track moments or spins as he battled to stay on the dry parts, he still managed to finish in second place, albeit over a second down on Sutil.
Jenson Button claimed third after a late charge in the final moments of the session.
But it wasn't all good news for McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton did not have the best of mornings. The McLaren driver completed just three laps in the opening hour, spending most of it stuck in the pits while his mechanics worked on the new floor and blown diffuser exhaust on his car.
And when he finally did venture out, he only managed one timed lap before crashing into the barriers and causing quite a bit of damage to the left side and front of his car.
Report: With the rain coming down, Timo Glock was the first to do a sighting lap and despite travelling rather slowly around the track almost lost control of his VR01. Others also ventured out but it wasn't long before they too returned to the pits while Nico Hulkenberg chanced his luck on a second lap and went off at Turn Two before making his way back to his Williams garage. Jaime Alguersuari, with the full wet tyres, ventured out but ran off the track at the hairpin. He rejoined and went on to set the first time of the day, a 1:41.068. The Toro Rosso driver continued lapping, taking almost five seconds off his time.
Sebastian Vettel was the next to make his mark as he crossed the line with plumes of spray coming from the back of his car and in a time of 1:36.905. Vettel went quickest on his next lap despite fighting his Red Bull through the puddles while Mark Webber took second place before overhauling his German team-mate. Alguersuari returned to the P1 slot as Vettel ran off the track and then Webber ran off the track again.
Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Kamui Kobayashi, Sebastien Buemi and Lotus test driver Fairuz Fauzy slotted in behind the Bulls. Nico Rosberg claimed second place, Vitaly Petrov and Massa both ran off the track before the latter improved to first place with a 1:31.981. However, his reign was short-lived as Webber reclaimed the top spot, 0.962s up on the Ferrari driver's best.
Rosberg was the next to lead the way with a 1:30.864 as Hulkenberg took second place, Massa third and Adrian Sutil fourth. Despite the rain easing off and the track drying out a bit, the drivers continued to battle to stay on the track. Massa spun, Hulkenberg ran off the track and Bruno Senna ran wide. Massa went on to run onto the gravel at the hairpin as did one of the Renaults. Barrichello put his Williams into a nice long spin through Turn Three, coming to a halt on the track before resuming his running.
Fernando Alonso climbed to fourth place before taking the lead away from Rosberg with a 1:30.229. Vettel improved to secod place and Barrichello third before Rosberg returned to the top of the pile, 0.810s up on Alonso. Alguersuari joined the battle at the front of the pack while with 35 minutes there were still no times for Lewis Hamilton, Lucas di Grassi and Jarno Trulli.
Webber returned to the front of the pack with a 1:29.048, Hulkenberg claimed second and Alguersuari third. The two Saubers also put in a good run with Kobayashi climbing to fifth place and Pedro de la Rosa to seventh. Vettel joined Webber at the front of the pack, overhauling his team-mate by 0.313s.
With a definite dry line running the entire length of the track, Sutil was the next to take control as the Force India driver posted a 1:27.846. Hamilton finally posted his first time of the morning after his McLaren mechanics spent the better part of an hour working on the floor and new blown diffuser exhaust on his car. The McLaren driver crossed the line with a 1:29.429.
Massa went off the track again, this time at the stadium section. But despite all his offs the Brazilian managed to keep his car away from the barriers. Hamilton did not. His crashed his McLaren at Turn Three after sliding across the grass, into the barriers and damaging the left side and front nose of the car.
Yellow flags lifted, Massa put his car into another spin, Jarno Trulli ran off the track, Massa ran off the track, Buemi took second place, Massa third, Senna spun off the track at the final corner and beached his car in the gravel, Massa put his spins behind him to go quickest with a 1:26.850 and Petrov took second place.
However, it was Sutil who ended the session quickest of all, clocking a 1:25.701. Massa was second ahead of Jenson Button, who put in a late charge to move up the order.
Times:
01. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:25.701 20 laps
02. Massa Ferrari 1:26.850 + 1.149 27 laps
03. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.936 + 1.235 16 laps
04. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:26.947 + 1.246 21 laps
05. Petrov Renault 1:26.948 + 1.247 21 laps
06. Rosberg Mercedes 1:27.448 + 1.747 20 laps
07. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.114 + 2.413 31 laps
08. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:28.193 + 2.492 24 laps
09. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:28.300 + 2.599 19 laps
10. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.486 + 2.785 23 laps
11. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:28.735 + 3.034 21 laps
12. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:28.735 + 3.034 21 laps
13. Kubica Renault 1:28.903 + 3.202 20 laps
14. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:29.048 + 3.347 13 laps
15. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:29.280 + 3.579 17 laps
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:29.366 + 3.665 34 laps
17. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.429 + 3.728 8 laps
18. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:29.500 + 3.799 19 laps
19. Alonso Ferrari 1:29.684 + 3.983 15 laps
20. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.690 + 3.989 17 laps
21. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.938 + 5.237 27 laps
22. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:31.720 + 6.019 23 laps
23. Schumacher Mercedes 1:32.450 + 6.749 13 laps
24. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:32.791 + 7.090 26 laps
Source: Planet-F1
