Vettel sets the pace in Brazilian opening practice

Penultimate round of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix got off to a steady start on Friday morning.

The teams enjoyed a 90-minute practice session to get acquainted again with the popular Interlagos circuit.

Title contenders Red Bull Racing and McLaren Mercedes also took the opportunity to conduct some aerodynamic tests on their respective cars.

Sébastien Buemi was the only one to complete a flying lap in the first thirty minutes. Vitaly Petrov and HRT’s Christian Klien joined him on the board with just under one hour remaining. The session then got busier and busier.

Fifty minutes in, twenty drivers had a time on the board. The ones missing were Virgin’s Glock, both McLarens and Red Bull’s Vettel. Robert Kubica was on top of the pile, with a 1’13’’462, but was quickly demoted by Mark Webber. Championship leader Fernando Alonso was 8th quickest, one second down on the Australian’s pace.

Vettel’s first timed effort moved him up to P14. In the meantime, Lewis Hamilton slotted in P2. The German improved in the following laps to go 3rd and then 2nd quickest, while his McLaren rival moved in front with a 1’13’’188.

The two of them found more pace and traded times. Vettel eventually won this battle with a lap completed in 1’12’’328. His first run of the weekend completed, he made his way back into the pits… as his teammate rejoined the track for a second run of laps.

Webber immediately improved his time but remained in third place. He then moved up to P2 but could not get really close to Vettel’s benchmark.

As most of the field was coming back out for a final run, Vitaly Petrov crashed his Renault at Ferradura. The Russian was unhurt but his car was heavily damaged.

The final seconds saw Alonso stopping on track with an apparent technical failure. Kamui Kobayashi got in trouble and spun his Sauber at Ferradura. He picked up a left rear puncture in the process.

Vettel ended the session fastest, with Webber 2nd. 0.482s separated the two Red Bull drivers. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were third and fourth fastest for McLaren. Robert Kubica was fifth for Renault.

Rosberg, Barrichello, Schumacher, Sutil and Heidfeld completed the top ten.