German Grand Prix:Lewis Hamilton pulled off a major surprise by setting the fastest time in practice for Sunday's German Grand Prix.
The world champion had the number one alongside his name to match that on his car for only the second time in practice in what has so far been a season to forget.
Hamilton had suggested on Thursday that little would change in the wake of a wretched sequence of results which has seen him fail to make the second round of qualifying at the last three grands prix.
With just nine points from eight races to date, Hamilton currently trails title leader Jenson Button by a yawning 55, with McLaren's focus already starting to switch towards next season.
Yet the 24-year-old found himself out in front at the end of the two 90-minute sessions at the Nurburgring, the scene of the worst accident of his career two years ago when he ploughed nose first into a barrier at 175mph.
Despite a late spin, Hamilton brushed that aside and promptly put up a time of one minute 32.149 seconds no-one was able to better in the closing stages, pushing Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel down into second.
Vettel had looked set to thrill his home fans by taking top spot, only for Hamilton to have other ideas, leaving the 22-year-old just 0.182secs adrift.
Button was third in his Brawn GP, just 0.220secs down, while Mark Webber - fastest in the morning - had to settle for fourth in his Red Bull, 0.331secs behind Hamilton.
Toyota's Jarno Trulli again fared well as he was fifth, and with the gremlins taken care of after a truncated morning run, Adrian Sutil was sixth in his Force India.
For the team it has been an up-and-down day as Giancarlo Fisichella was also sixth in the morning, only to then crash out in the afternoon when he spun into a barrier, ripping off his nose cone.
There was also drama in the paddock when German police attempted to impound the team's assets due to a contractual dispute just before first practice.
The situation was swiftly resolved by Force India officials, with the promise their weekend would continue without further disruption.
Behind Sutil, Button's Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello was seventh, with Renault's Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet sandwiching Williams' Kazuki Nakajima in eighth, ninth and 10th.
Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen were 12th and 16th, with the latter's Finnish compatriot Heikki Kovalainen 17th in his McLaren, 1.575secs behind team-mate Hamilton.
Times1 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:32.149 23 laps
2 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:32.331 31 laps
3 J. Button Brawn GP 1:32.369 32 laps
4 M. Webber Red Bull 1:32.480 28 laps
5 J. Trulli Toyota 1:32.511 32 laps
6 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:32.585 32 laps
7 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:32.664 26 laps
8 F. Alonso Renault 1:32.774 24 laps
9 K. Nakajima Williams 1:32.872 32 laps
10 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:32.992 29 laps
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:33.012 36 laps
12 F. Massa Ferrari 1:33.052 34 laps
13 N. Rosberg Williams 1:33.128 34 laps
14 R. Kubica BMW 1:33.161 28 laps
15 T. Glock Toyota 1:33.172 34 laps
16 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:33.182 29 laps
17 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:33.724 27 laps
18 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:33.903 30 laps
19 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:34.025 30 laps
20 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:38.877 3 laps