Formula 1: Barrichello and Alonso top timesheets at European GP Friday Practice

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Friday Practice 1

Rubens Barrichello of the Brawn team was fastest in this this morning's first practice in Valencia for Sunday's Grand Prix, with a time of 1:42.460.

His teammate Jenson Button managed 4th place with a time of 1:43.074.

It was also the first time that veteran test driver Luca Badoer was able to drive this year's Ferrari, the test driver replacing the injured Felipe Massa for the forseeable future. The second débutant driving the car for the first time is Frenchman Romain Grosjean, replacing the sacked Nelson Piquet Jr..

Temperatures at the track were high, with air temperature reaching 33°C, resulting in an elevated track temperature, certainly when compared to Hungary - which this season had tended to favour the Brawn team.

Speculation was mounting throughout the free practice sessions with regards to driver line-ups for the 2010 season, with Mclaren team principle Martin Whitmarsh stating "we all know that Fernando Alonso's move to Ferrari will have a ripple effect on other teams. It opens up the driver market. We are not in talks with any other drivers at the moment, but are obliged to have the most competitive cars and drivers that we can", in reply to a question from BBC Five Live Sports Extra's reporter asking if the team had plans to replace Heikki Kovalainen.

McLaren's return to form in Hungary following a poor start to the season appears not to just be a one-off, with Lewis Hamilton posting consistent times throughout practice, ending up 3rd, only two tenths of a second off Barrichello's time.

Towards the bottom of the timesheet there were no surprises; after only one and a half hours in the car, the "rookies" Grosjean and Alguersuari, as well as replacement driver Badoer. Toyota also failed to impress, Trulli and Glock posting the 18th- and 19th-fastest times.

Friday Practice 2

Fernando Alonso was seven tenths of a second clear in second free practice in Valencia for Sunday's Grand Prix, with a time of 1:39.404.

His rookie team mate, Romain Grosjean only managed 13th place (1:40.787), over a second slower.

Massa replacement Luca Badoer continued to make progress in the Ferrari, managing a 2-place improvement on first practice, posting the 18th fastest time. (1:42.017).

Rubens Barrichello was out to prove that his speed in the morning session was not a one-off, and posted the third fastest time overall (1:40.209), however his team mate Jenson Button was quicker this time out (1:40.178).

Toyota drivers Trulli and Glock improved on disappointing times this morning, finishing the session 12th and 15th respectively. Lewis Hamilton failed to post a competitive time (1:43.214) having only completed 3 flying laps.

The next session will be free practice on Saturday, at 11:00 CET.

First Practice TimesSecond Practice TimesPosNoNation.NameConstructorTime123Rubens BarrichelloBrawn1:42.46022Heikki KovalainenMcLaren1:42.63631Lewis HamiltonMcLaren1:42.654422Jenson ButtonBrawn1:43.074515Sebastian VettelRed Bull1:43.088620Adrian SutilForce India1:43.209717Kazuki NakajimaWilliams1:43.225814Mark WebberRed Bull1:43.24397Fernando AlonsoRenault1:43.345104Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:43.3841112Sébastien BuemiToro Rosso1:43.389125Robert KubicaBMW Sauber1:43.4191311Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso1:43.6371416Nico RosbergWilliams1:43.746156Nick HeidfeldBMW Sauber1:44.0401621Giancarlo FisichellaForce India1:44.126178Romain GrosjeanRenault1:44.356189Jarno TrulliToyota1:44.6381910Timo GlockToyota1:44.732203Luca BadoerFerrari1:45.840PosNoNation.NameConstructorTime17Fernando AlonsoRenault1:39.404222 Jenson ButtonBrawn1:40.178323Rubens BarrichelloBrawn1:40.209416Nico RosbergWilliams1:40.385517Kazuki NakajimaWilliams1:40.503620Adrian SutilForce India1:40.59675Robert KubicaBMW Sauber1:40.643821Giancarlo FisichellaForce India1:40.681915Sebastian VettelRed Bull1:40.723102Heikki KovalainenMcLaren1:40.738114Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:40.739129Jarno TrulliToyota1:40.770138Romain GrosjeanRenault1:40.7871414Mark WebberRed Bull1:40.9561510Timo GlockToyota1:40.9851612Sébastien BuemiToro Rosso1:41.156176Nick HeidfeldBMW Sauber1:41.350183Luca BadoerFerrari1:42.0171911Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso1:42.089201 Lewis HamiltonMcLaren1:43.214