» Spanish GP: Alonso tops opening practice session

Fernando Alonso has delighted his Spanish fans with the fastest time in the opening practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, giving his Ferrari team an encouraging start in his heavily upgraded Ferrari. The two-time World Champion finished the session almost four-tenths faster than Sebastian Vettel.

With the circuit opening for business under glorious skies on what is set to be the hottest weekend of the season to-date, teams were given a great opportunity to further test their upgraded cars, while two teams opted to give some drivers their very first run on a Grand Prix weekend.

Caterham elected to give Formula Renault 3.5 racewinner Alexander Rossi his first outing in the CT01 in place of Heikki Kovalainen, while the HRT F1 gave reserve driver Dani Clos his maiden run in the F112 in place of Narain Karthikeyan. Force India gave Jules Bianchi another outing in its VJM05, while Williams’ promising reserve driver Valtteri Bottas went an impressive fifth-fastest.

It took a while before some serious lap times were posted, but Sebastian Vettel took his Red Bull RB8 to top spot for fifteen minutes, usurping long-time pace-setter Kamui Kobayashi. The pair would finish the session second- and third-fastest, respectively, with Alonso taking his Ferrari to top spot.

Fourth fastest on the timesheets was Jenson Button in the heavily-revised McLaren – sporting, among a host of upgrades, a new raised nose section – while Bottas, Michael Schumacher, Romain Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen and Nico Hülkenberg rounded out the top ten places. The likes of Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg finished outside the top-ten placings.

It was a session largely devoid of major incident, although HRT had a few issues on home soil. Pedro de la Rosa lost a bargeboard as he braked for Turn 1, while Clos’ running was curtailed before the end of the session when mechanical troubles struck.

2012 Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:24.430		20
2.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:24.808	+ 0.378	18
3.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:24.912	+ 0.482	28
4.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:24.996	+ 0.566	24
5.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault FW34	1:25.120	+ 0.690	24
6.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:25.187	+ 0.757	15
7.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:25.217	+ 0.787	16
8.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:25.252	+ 0.822	20
9.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:25.285	+ 0.855	29
10.	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:25.339	+ 0.909	24
11.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:25.367	+ 0.937	22
12.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:25.433	+ 1.003	21
13.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:25.539	+ 1.109	23
14.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:25.607	+ 1.177	24
15.	Sergio Pérez	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:25.918	+ 1.488	19
16.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:26.226	+ 1.796	24
17.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault FW34	1:26.297	+ 1.867	18
18.	Jules Bianchi	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:26.630	+ 2.200	21
19.	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault CT01	1:27.475	+ 3.045	20
20.	Timo Glock	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:28.267	+ 3.837	21
21.	Alexander Rossi	Caterham Renault CT01	1:28.448	+ 4.018	25
22.	Charles Pic	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:28.663	+ 4.203	22
23.	Pedro de la Rosa	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:29.107	+ 4.677	19
24.	Dani Clos	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:31.618	+ 7.188	19