Bridgestone’s super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber on the undulating Nurburgring circuit for the first day of the German Grand Prix.

In variable weather conditions, Lewis Hamilton set the day’s fastest lap time, a 1min 32.149secs, in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes during the afternoon practice session. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) was the fastest driver in the morning practice session, using the medium compound to set a time of 1min 33.082secs.

Conditions were cold and there was some rain meaning that Bridgestone’s intermediate and wet tyres were seen out on track.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about the day’s running?

“Today it was good to see Formula One cars back at the Nurburgring after a year away. It was a cold reception we received from the weather, so maintaining tyre temperature was a challenge. The cold weather and also the wind experienced here makes matters difficult, however a second covered the top thirteen cars in the afternoon, which shows that everyone is very close on pace for this weekend.”

How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?

“It’s an interesting circuit here and, as illustrated today, there is always the factor of the weather too. After the British Grand Prix there was a lot of talk of tyre temperatures and how the front running teams and drivers use their tyres. I would not be surprised if that is also a topic this weekend. If it stays cold like today then the super soft could even be the preferred race tyre. For the medium compound, getting temperature into the tyre is the challenge, for the super soft, minimising graining is the challenge.”