Mark Webber made the ideal start to the German Grand Prix weekend and his bid to finally end his winless drought in Formula One.

At a chilly Nurburgring, with temperatures a season low of just 12 degrees centigrade for the opening practice session, and under grey skies, Webber topped the timesheets for the first time this year.

Underlining Red Bull Racing's current form after their one-two at the British Grand Prix three weeks ago when Sebastian Vettel led home Webber, the 32-year-old posted a time of one minute 33.082 seconds for the 5.148km circuit set in the lush Eifel mountains.

It would appear the Australian has never had a better opportunity to score his maiden grand prix victory after 129 starts, and now in his eighth year.

Championship leader Jenson Button had earlier remarked Webber, more than Vettel, would be the man to keep an eye on this weekend and so it proved after the opening salvos.

The 29-year-old Briton was forced to settle for second in his Brawn GP, finishing 0.381secs adrift of Webber, with Brazilian Felipe Massa a strong third in his Ferrari, 0.663secs down.

Button is determined to make amends for the disappointment felt at the end of his home race in Silverstone when he could only finish sixth, ending his run of four successive victories.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli was fourth, followed closely by a seemingly fast improving Force India driven by Giancarlo Fisichella. However, the Italian's German team-mate Adrian Sutil was at the bottom of the standings, completing just six laps after stopping on track due to what appeared to be a mechanical issue.

Kimi Raikkonen, adamant on Thursday he is not leaving Ferrari despite fierce speculation to the contrary, was sixth, with Williams' Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima sandwiching Vettel, the trio all within a second of Webber.

World champion Lewis Hamilton was 13th, with McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen 18th, whilst Toyota's Timo Glock was a lowly 19th, although the German was expected to be far stronger in the second session.