Considering Wolff’s lack of mileage in a car Massa has raced all season her performance appeared to make a strong statement.
BBC F1 analyst Allan McNish said: “To be that close to Massa was a very, very strong performance.”
The session went far better for Wolff than her last outing at Silverstone two weeks ago, when she managed only four laps before her engine failed as she became the first woman to take part in a grand prix weekend for 22 years.
Initial indications were that there had been little change to the pecking order following the decision of all the teams not to run their high-tech hydraulically controlled front-rear interconnected suspension systems following a communication from governing body the FIA that it believed them to be illegal.
The drivers appeared to be finding life more difficult out on the track, however.
Removing the systems, the teams have to run the cars higher at the front, reducing downforce, and several cars ran wide on the entry to the many slow corners at Hockenheim.
Hamilton, in particular, seemed to have trouble putting together a lap, although traffic on the relatively short track was also a problem for him.