Vettel leads the way in final practice

Practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix concluded this morning with a final sixty-minute practice session.

The teams took this opportunity to finalize their preparation for qualifying and the race. Conditions remained dry but cloudy.

The McLaren drivers quickly left the pits to kick off their first run. Friday’s pacesetter Lewis Hamilton rapidly went top of the list but faced immediate opposition from Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. Mark Webber also joined the party.

25 minutes into the session, Vettel was leading from Button, Webber and Hamilton. Three drivers were still to post a time: Buemi, Alonso and Massa.

Alonso made a mistake on his first timed lap and recorded the 23rd fastest time. He logically improved next time round and moved up to P7. There was a bit more to come from the Spaniard and he rounded off his run with the fifth fastest time. His teammate Massa was in P8.

Buemi, meanwhile, was still stranded in the pits as his mechanics worked hard to fix a hydraulic leak.

With twenty minutes remaining, some teams made the switch from the hard to the soft tyres. Mercedes was among them and saw its drivers getting into the top five.

Still running the hard tyre, Webber improved his time and lowered his teammate’s benchmark. Nonetheless, the Red Bull pair was toppled, seconds later, by Force India’s Sutil – running the soft tyre.

Ten minutes from the chequered flag, d’Ambrosio was the last man left on track as the rest of the field readied for a final effort. Alonso was the first to come back out. Rosberg, Massa and di Resta followed him.

Now running the soft tyre, Alonso easily improved and took over at the front by 0.4s. Hamilton did slightly better, as well as Webber and Vettel. The World Champion went top of the list, with Hamilton second and Webber third.

Traffic was a bit of an issue in the final minutes. Vettel held on to top spot while Button slotted in 2nd place ahead of Webber and Hamilton. The four of them were only covered by 0.1s. Alonso was in fifth place, Sutil sixth, Rosberg 7th, Schumacher 8th, di Resta ninth and Massa tenth.

Buemi was unable to rejoin the track and only completed three laps in the session.