Formula 1 News

Vettel fastest in first India practice

Just one session in, but Red Bull and Vettel show no signs of slowing down their surge. Jenson Button marked second best time.

Friday, October 26, 2012

NEW DELHI, Oct 26, 2012 (AFP) - World champion Sebastian Vettel topped the times in opening free practice on Friday for the Indian Grand Prix, underlining his standing as the man to beat this weekend.

The 25-year-old German steered his Red Bull to a fastest lap of one minute 27.619 seconds in the 90-minute session at the Buddh International Circuit, three-tenths of a second ahead of nearest rival Jenson Button of McLaren.

Vettel, who snatched the lead in the drivers' standings two weeks ago in South Korea, delivered his best lap in the closing stages of a busy session during which Button's team-mate and compatriot Lewis Hamilton, who will switch teams to Mercedes next season, was fastest until the final minutes.

Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who is six points behind Vettel in this year's championship with four races remaining, was third fastest ahead of Hamilton and fifth-placed Australian Mark Webber in the second Red Bull.

German Nico Rosberg was sixth for Mercedes ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. The retirement-bound seven-time champion German Michael Schumacher, 43, was eighth in the second Mercedes.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo was ninth for Toro Rosso, ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus.

Below the times for the first practice session (FP1) for the Indian Grand Prix:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Times	Gap	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:27.619		22
2	3	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:27.929	0.310	22
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:28.044	0.425	24
4	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:28.046	0.427	25
5	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:28.175	0.556	22
6	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:28.447	0.828	25
7	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:28.542	0.923	24
8	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:28.993	1.374	23
9	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	1:29.204	1.585	24
10	9	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus	1:29.291	1.672	24
11	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:29.691	2.072	26
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India	1:29.760	2.141	23
13	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:29.802	2.183	18
14	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:29.850	2.231	19
15	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:29.895	2.276	19
16	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	1:30.041	2.422	26
17	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:30.401	2.782	23
18	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham	1:30.630	3.011	24
19	20	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	1:30.896	3.277	20
20	15	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	1:31.212	3.593	29
21	25	Charles Pic	Marussia	1:31.903	4.284	22
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT	1:32.125	4.506	24
23	24	Timo Glock	Marussia	1:32.369	4.750	19
24	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT	1:32.859	5.240	13