Vettel tops final Indian GP practice

Installation laps kicked off the final practice session for the Indian GP.

The drivers sampled the ever-changing conditions of the Buddh International Circuit’s track and gently embarked on their working program. As it usually happens, the frontrunners waited in their respective garages while the rest of the field got some laps in.

Schumacher and Alguersuari set the early pace. Twenty minutes into the session, the Red Bulls got up to speed and jumped at the front – Vettel ahead of Webber. Nico Rosberg moved up to third in his Mercedes while Sébastien Buemi took fourth just in front of his Toro Rosso teammate Jaime Alguersuari.

As Vettel further lowered the benchmark, the McLarens came out for their first run of the morning. Once their tyres up in temperature, they settled in the top five and slowly closed the gap to Vettel. Button’s best effort put him in 2nd position, 1.4s behind the leading Red Bull. Hamilton was sixth fastest, 2.6s off the pace.

With just under 30 minutes remaining, the closest rival to Vettel was the seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. And he was 0.9s slower than his fellow German. A third German – Nico Rosberg – then came and split the pair.

Several drivers switched to the softer tyre in the final part of the session. Webber initially stuck with the hard tyre and moved up to 2nd place, less than two tenths of a second behind his teammate.

Sutil and di Resta made good use of the soft tyre to jump in the top five. Alonso then completed a flying lap and went 2nd quickest, really close to Vettel’s benchmark. Button and Massa subsequently beat the reigning World Champion’s mark… but he was still in the pits and was yet to set a time on the soft tyre.

Alonso kept pushing and took over at the front. With four minutes left, the Ferrari driver was leading from Button, Massa, Vettel and Hamilton.

Button further improved to jump the Spaniard. All eyes then turned on the Red Bulls. Webber’s first effort yielded him 4th place while Vettel took 2nd quickest.

As Hamilton set the 2nd fastest time, less than a tenth of a second behind his teammate, the Red Bulls made their final effort. Webber split the McLaren pair while Vettel topped the timesheets under the chequered flag.

He was three tenths of a second faster than his rivals who, on the contrary, were closely matched. Button, Webber and Hamilton were covered by a single tenth of a second. Alonso was fifth fastest, but 0.9s down. Massa, di Resta, Rosberg, Sutil and Buemi completed the top ten.