Second practice is just over 15 minutes away and it looks as though we are going to get our first dry running of the day.

Conditions were terrible at the start of the first session and caught out a number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton who damaged his McLaren against the wall.

Virgin Racing's track update: "Definitely drier outside now, and track looking ok for slicks. There'll be a lot to do ths afternoon"

Lotus is hoping the rest of the session stays dry so they can get some useful running on the super soft and hard tyres: "Looks like being dry for the start of the second session and may even stay dry for the whole session, lets hope so."

McLaren also needs to get out on track in the dry so it can analyse its new blown diffuser. The team will only run it if it thinks it can gain an advantage but it is incredibly difficult to tell if new parts are working in the wet as lap times have more to do with tyres and track surface than aero kit.

Schumacher was struggling with problems with his rear wing at the end of the last session and as a result set the 23rd fastest time and completed just over 10 laps.

The good news is that we will see a lot of running this afternoon as it was so restricted this morning.

Hamilton's car is still up on jacks and does not have a floor on it. He will miss quite a bit of this session as a result. He should still be out towards the end of the session and will be hoping there is no more rain inbetween.

The green light is on and Kobayashi is the first out on hard slick tyres. Trulli and di Grassi join him.

Kobayashi finds that the turn six hairpin is still pretty wet and runs wide.

HRT tell Yamamoto that there will be no rain for another 30 minutes.

Kobayashi catches a huge slide entering turn 11, there is still a big puddle there and it is very damp all around the hairpin at turn 6.

So the drivers will have to keep lapping in order to get rid of those puddles but will they be brave enough to stay out?

De la Rosa sets the fastest time of the day with a 1:25.160

De la Rosa is now lapping in the 1:23s.

Schumacher's report on the track: "Michael reporting that the circuit is pretty dry except turns 6, 8 & 10."

Ferrari just waiting to send their drivers out: "Both Felipe and Fernando are inside the cockpit, waiting fro the right moment to make their first run"

This morning's pacesetter Sutil loses the rear end of his car into turn six and runs wide. That could have been nasty, he did well to hold it.

On his next attempt Sutil sets the fastest lap with a 1:20.911.

Lots of sparks flying from the back of Kovalainen's Lotus - he's back in the car after Fauzy was out in it this morning.

Alonso completes his third lap but is still some way off the pace. He's probably running a heavy fuel load at the moment, there is no reason to go for a fast qualifying-style lap at this stage.

Sutil breaks into the 1:19s and is going even faster on his next lap.

Sutil sets a 1:19.031 on his next attempt.

Massa still looks as though he is struggling with the car moving around a lot underneath him on brand new hard tyres.

Webber runs wide after just dipping a wheel into the water off line.

Adam asks: "After an accident like Hamilton's, can the team make the car perfect? Can they test today the new parts?"

Yep, they'll have it more or less perfect as long as the monocoque isn't cracked (and it isn't). They have enough new parts to run the blown diffuser again but he will miss out on set-up time and that will cost him and the team.

Alonso is now fastest with a 1:18.307 ahead of Button with a 1:18.833.

Ferrari is about to start a soft tyre run: "Rain is getting closer so it is worth using this spell of dry track to test the softer tyres..."

Rosberg has damaged his front wing somewhere and it is hanging off the nose. He hit a bollard on the inside of turn one, just trying to take too much kerb.

Rain is just starting to come down again.

Webber is out on option tyres but he makes a mistake in turn two as the track gets greasy.

Vettel is still out on hard tyres and says over the radio that the track is getting too wet for a fast lap.

The teams' weather radar shows a huge rainstorm coming over the circuit in the next hour or so.

Sutil runs wide, how long can the drivers stay out in these conditions?

Kovalainen, Webber and Liuzzi all run wide at turn eight.

The floor is now back on Hamilton's car but there is still lots of work to do on it and he might not get out in the dry.

Vettel is out on track but nobody is setting quick laps at the moment. The track conditions aren't perfect.

As if to prove that point, Vettel ran into the gravel at turn 12 and just missed the tyre barrier.

Schumacher heads out on track but the track is still not at its best.

The middle sector is now drying and Hulkenberg has set the fastest sector so far. Webber is about to go even quicker.

Schumacher tries to pull a move on di Grassi into the hairpin but nearly loses the rear of the car under braking.

Webber has set the fastest time with a 1:17.409.

Alonso now sets the quickest time with a 1:17.329, just 0.080 up on Webber. But Webber is on another fast lap ... and sets a 1:16.585.

Alonso runs wide in turn one as the drivers' confidence goes up on the drying track.

Vettel is still in the pits after he went off the track. Possibly due to some damage to the floor of his Red Bull.

Alonso very nearly lost it in the final corner. A shame for him as he was on a very fast lap.

Something just fell off the back of Kubica's car and he has returned to the pits.

Schumacher completes a committed lap to go fourth fastest with a 1:16.971.

Vettel is out on option tyres for the first time this weekend.

Vettel third fastest with a 1:16.609 on his first flying lap and then ran wide in the first corner.

Vettel now goes second fastest, just 0.029 off Alonso's time on soft tyres. He now slows down and will probably return to the pits.

Kubica is back on track on soft tyres and is currently seventh fastest. Rosberg is fifth fastest just 0.010 faster than Schumacher. Those two appear to be much closer this weekend.

Hamilton is getting ready to step into his car. It's been bolted back together and looks as good as new.

A replay shows Mark Webber locking up into turn eight and running wide.

Mark Webber runs wide again, this time exiting turn 10.

Pacesetter Alonso is heading back out on track but he may be on a heavier fuel load on this run.

That's confirmed by Ferrari: "Now it's time to run on high fuel with just 23 minutes to go. Fernando went out on the same set of soft tyres.

"And Felipe is following him now, on the same set of soft tyres as well/"

Lotus boss Tony Fernandes is proud of Fairuz Fauzy: "Superb performance from Fairuz. Not easy to step in and drive in the wet. Well done. Proud of you Fairuz. You have done Malaysia proud."

Barrichello loses the rear on the exit of turn 10, so it's still pretty slippery out there.

Hamilton is still waiting to get back in his car. The final preparations are now being made to it. His McLaren team-mate Jenson Button is currently 14th fastest so things don't look good for the British team at the moment.

Schumacher goes off the track twice through the stadium section. He's still sixth fastest behind team-mate Rosberg but judging by their times they are both on long runs now.

Schumacher reports that he has problems with too much movement at the back of the car and he returns to the pits.

With 15 minutes remaining nobody is setting fast lap times, suggesting they are all on longer, heavy-fuel runs, simulating the start of the race. And still we wait for Hamilton to hit the track...

Now Hamilton has his Mercedes engine fired up, and away he goes on hard tyres.

Ferrari update: "Felipe came in for a quick tyre change now he is out on hard tyre."

Force India's weather update: "Some rain is on the way".

Hamilton is on a ten lap run and won't go out on the soft tyres this session.

Force India is reporting heavy tyre graining on both cars.

Neville asks: "Having watched the British Grand Prix at Silverstone it was apparant that Schumacher was trying really hard as he was almost always putting a wheel wide and making many mistakes. Is this the same at Germany or is he looking more composed?"

He is still pushing very, very hard but is not making as many mistakes as he was at this stage of the weekend at Silverstone. He is also faster compared to his team-mate so appears to be quite a bit more comfortable. I think he will be aiming for a top six qualifying position this weekend - but it'll be pretty tough.

Trulli is being wheeled off the circuit at turn six.

Hamilton is also puching hard and runs a little wide through turn one.

Just as I was saying Schumacher was having a better weekend his session has come to an end due to damage to the car. That was possibly the result of one of his off-track excursions.

Hamilton up to 13th and that's enough to get him ahead of team-mate Button. And Button has been out on the soft tyre.

22 cars out on track but everybody appears to be coming to the end of long runs so we are unlikely to see a faster lap than Alonso's.

Hamilton is now on a quick lap but still a bit off Alonso. He lost 0.7 to Alonso in the final sector and goes seventh fastest. He did set the fastest middle sector and that was a good, confidence-boosting lap for him.

The chequered flag is out and Alonso stays fastest ahead of Vettel and Massa.

Ferrari look quick but Red Bull hardly ever shows it's true pace on a Friday. McLaren will be frustrated but we will have to wait to hear from them on whether they will run the blown diffuser on the car. However, they will be analysing the data late until the night, so don't expect a final decision on that until Saturday.

Thank you for joining us, we'll be back for all the action tomorrow.

Make sure you check back this afternoon for driver reaction and the latest news from the paddock.