Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel set the pace in first practice at the Indian Grand Prix. Vettel headed team-mate Mark Webber by 0.188 seconds, getting his preparations for the race in which he hopes to clinch his fourth title off to a perfect start.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was third ahead of Lotus’s Romain Grosjean. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the only other man who can still win the title, suffered a gearbox problem. The Spaniard ended up 12th fastest, managing just six laps before being forced to abandon the session.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fifth quickest, ahead of the McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez.
Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa was only ninth fastest, just over a second off the pace, and ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Williams’s Valtteri Bottas and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne.
Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, who has admitted he needs to improve his form in qualifying, was only 17th.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m26.683s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m26.871s +0.188s 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m26.899s +0.216s 4. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m26.990s +0.307s 5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m27.227s +0.544s 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m27.335s +0.652s 7. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1m27.416s +0.733s 8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m27.692s +1.009s 9. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.770s +1.087s 10. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1m27.800s +1.117s 11. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.035s +1.352s 12. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m28.214s +1.531s 13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.336s +1.653s 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m28.342s +1.659s 15. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.468s +1.785s 16. Esteaban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.538s +1.855s 17. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m28.730s +2.047s 18. James Calado Force India-Mercedes 1m29.197s +2.514s 19. Giedgo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1m29.413s +2.730s 20. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1m29.560s +2.877s 21. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1m30.026s +3.343s 22. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1m30.471s +3.788s
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