Chrisitan Vietoris topped the timesheets in a wet opening free practice session of the 2011 GP2 Series season at Istanbul.
The German Racing Engineering driver posted the time in the final minute of the session, with Romain Grosjean going second for DAMS and Giedo van der Garde third for Addax.
The treacherous conditions at the start of the session saw ART driver and GP3 champion Esteban Gutierrez drop his car on the exit of Turn 8, spitting it into the wall before coming to rest in the middle of the track.
After the subsequent red flag period his teammate and title contender Jules Bianchi repeated the Mexican's spill, though he did not give the French team's mechanics quite as much damage to repair.
With eight minutes remaining, Dutchman van der Garde posted the fastest time of the session so far, but Grosjean and then Vietoris both improved upon this time on their final runs. Despite his off Bianchi went fourth quickest, with Carlin's Max Chilton fifth.
Free practice results:
| Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | |
| 1. | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | 1:43.399 | 12 | |
| 2. | Romain Grosjean | Dams | 1:43.618 | +0.219 | 11 |
| 3. | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 1:43,992 | +0.593 | 12 |
| 4. | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 1:44.697 | +1.298 | 11 |
| 5. | Max Chilton | Carlin | 1:44.745 | +1.346 | 11 |
| 6. | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 1:44.811 | +1.412 | 7 |
| 7. | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 1:45.066 | +1.667 | 11 |
| 8. | Luca Filippi | Super Nova Racing | 1:45.135 | +1.736 | 11 |
| 9. | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 1:45.281 | +1.882 | 11 |
| 10. | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 1:45.354 | +1.955 | 11 |
| 11. | Davide Rigon | Scuderia Coloni | 1:45.601 | +2.202 | 12 |
| 12. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:45.744 | +2.345 | 13 |
| 13. | Johnny Cecotto | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:45.770 | +2.371 | 12 |
| 14. | Sam Bird | iSport International | 1:45.864 | +2.465 | 10 |
| 15. | Luiz Razia | Team AirAsia | 1:45.888 | +2.489 | 13 |
| 16. | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 1:45.932 | +2.533 | 10 |
| 17. | Kevin Mirocha | Ocean Racing Technology | 1:46.034 | +2.635 | 12 |
| 18. | Josef Kral | Arden International | 1:46.202 | +2.803 | 12 |
| 19. | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 1:46.420 | +3.021 | 3 |
| 20. | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 1:46.493 | +3.094 | 11 |
| 21. | Pal Varhaug | Dams | 1:46.641 | +3.242 | 12 |
| 22. | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 1:46.991 | +3.592 | 8 |
| 23. | Davide Valsecchi | Team AirAsia | 1:47.015 | +3.616 | 11 |
| 24. | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 1:47.269 | +3.870 | 12 |
| 25. | Julian Leal | Rapax | 1:47.608 | +4.209 | 10 |
| 26. | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 1:49.251 | +5.852 | 2 |
