( CNN ) -- Susie Wolff put the disappointments of Silverstone behind her on Friday with an impressive run in the first free practice session ahead of Sunday 's German Grand Prix . The Williams development driver only managed four laps during practice at the British Grand Prix a fortnight ago before engine problems curtailed her involvement . But it was a happier story at Hockenheim as the 31-year-old Scot completed 20 laps finishing a highly respectable 15th . Her best lap time of one minute 20.769 seconds was just 0.227 seconds behind Williams ' driver Felipe Massa who finished the session in 11th place . Things had not looked so promising for Wolff earlier in the day as she crawled round her out lap in first gear before returning to the pits . Thankfully , it was n't long before the mechanical problems were resolved and she was back on track -- even briefly clocking the fastest lap of the session . Wolff has been a development driver for Williams since 2012 and is the first female driver to participate in a F1 race weekend since Italy 's Giovanna Amati attempted to qualify for three races during the 1992 season . Lewis Hamilton , speaking ahead of his recent victory at Silverstone , said Wolff 's participation at two practice sessions this season was fully deserved . `` She 's very , very talented , '' said the Mercedes driver , who raced against her in his junior career in karting and Formula Renault . `` It 's really cool to see her in a Formula One car . `` I did n't race against many girls . Susie was one of the very few , if not the only one , I raced against . We shared a podium together a couple of times . '' Wolff , who replaced Massa 's teammate Valtteri Bottas for Friday 's first practice session , finished 1.638 seconds off the pace set by current championship leader Nico Rosberg . Hamilton was fractionally behind ( 0.065 seconds ) his teammate with Ferrari 's Fernando Alonso third and Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull fourth . The Australian 's teammate and last year 's race winner Sebastian Vettel finished the session in sixth , one place behind McLaren 's Jenson Button . Read more : Historic Formula One outing stalls . Read more : Why ca n't women win in F1 ?
Williams development driver impresses finishing 15th out of 22 drivers . Wolff completes 20 laps with a fastest time of one minute 20.769 seconds . The 31-year-old finishes just 0.227 seconds behind main Williams driver Felipe Massa .