Free 1: Lewis Hamilton asserts an early authority at Brazil in practice one

Lewis Hamilton has ended the opening session of the Brazilian Grand Prix fastest overall, as the Briton prepares for his final race with McLaren. The 2008 World Champion was followed home by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel in 2nd and Mark Webber in 3rd, as the teams and drivers began preparations for the final race weekend of the season.

Only one week after the immensely successful United States Grand Prix at Austin, the teams began their preparations for the season finale around Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit and the Brazilian Grand Prix. With rain almost definitely forecast for the remainder of the weekend, particularly Sunday, the team’s were understandably eager to gather as much dry running as possible once the opening session began. The session began in glorious sunshine at the Interlagos circuit, as Valtteri Bottas [Williams] and Giedo van der Garde [Caterham] replaced their respective team-mates for Friday running.

Pirelli issued each team with a prototype of one of next season’s new tyre compounds, to allow the teams and drivers to test the new compound ahead of the 2013 season. After the Pirelli tyres created much excitement at the start of the season, it seems the tyre supplier is aiming to continue the trend with a completely new design of tyre compounds for next season. These prototype tyres were color coded in orange, to differentiate between the Hard (Silver) and Medium (White) compounds.

Valtteri Bottas set the initial pace for Williams, as their reserve driver set a 01:21.218 in the early stages of the session. Some drivers opted to carry out installation laps to begin with, however many drivers quickly returned to the track to complete their first timed laps. Sergio Perez was quick to thwart the Finn’s time at the top, as the McLaren-bound driver set a 01:15.869. This time failed to remain fastest for long, as Lewis Hamilton asserted his authority over proceedings with a 01:14.374.

As the session progressed, Lewis Hamilton continued to improve at the top of the timing sheets, as the Briton set a 01:14.131. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel slotted into 2nd position, as Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button went 3rd. Whilst the majority of the field circulated out on track, Kimi Raikkonen remained stuck in the pits as he complained of a potential engine issue on his Lotus. After the mechanics changed the spark plugs on his car, the Finn was sent back out only to once again return to the pits with the engine still sounding terribly rough.

Whilst Raikkonen’s mechanics once again busied themselves around his Lotus, Sergio Perez’s Sauber mechanics began changing his brake material, after the Mexican driver was seen locking up on numerous occasions out on track. After further work on Raikkonen’s Lotus, the 2007 World Champion was able to finally take to the track and complete a timed lap, which he was able to eventually improve upon to 14th. Whilst Raikkonen completed his first laps around the Interlagos circuit, Felipe Massa spun and continued at Turn 9, as the local hero pushed to the limits in his Ferrari.

As the opening session of the weekend drew to a conclusion, Timo Glock also spun and continued at Turn 7 as the Marussia driver pushed to the limits around the undulating Interlagos circuit. However, no-one managed to displace Lewis Hamilton at the front, who remained fastest by only +0.009 seconds to the reigning World Champion of Sebastian Vettel. Mark Webber managed to finish 3rd for Red Bull, ahead of the other McLaren of Jenson Button.

The teams and drivers will return to the Interlagos circuit later in the afternoon, as they continue to prepare for this weekend’s grand finale. The weather is forecast to remain dry for the remainder of the day, before the weather turns supposedly inclement for the rest of the weekend including the all-important qualifying session and 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix.

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