» 2012 Indian GP: Vettel quickest as practice gets underway

Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel has finished atop the timesheets at the end of the first practice session for this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix. The German beat Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso to top spot, posting a fastest lap time of 1:27.619 around the Buddh International Circuit.

This being the sport’s second visit to the venue, the opening 90-minute session was greeted with warm, hazy conditions that helped keep the forecasted ambient temperatures a little cooler. Track conditions were again dusty, and as the circuit steadily gripped up with more running, so the lap times started to drop.

Three reserve drivers were in action during the session, Heikki Kovalainen relinquished his Caterham cockpit for the team’s reserve driver, Giedo van der Garde, while Bruno Senna once again sat on the sidelines as Williams understudy Valtteri Bottas continues to stake his claim for a promotion to the team’s race line-up.

Down at Sauber, Mexican rookie Esteban Gutiérrez had his first-ever Grand Prix outing, taking over from an unwell Sergio Pérez, who was benched for the morning’s action while he continues to feel the affects of a heavy cold that has afflicted him since he arrived on the subcontinent.

At the sharp end of the timesheets, it was Vettel who managed to beat Button to top spot by over three-tenths of a second, while Fernando Alonso ended the session third-fastest in his Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber completed the top-five positions on the timesheets, while the top-ten was completed by Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen, who was having his very first outing around the circuit.

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

	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:27.619		22
2.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:27.929	+ 0.310	22
3.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:28.044	+ 0.425	24
4.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes MP4-27	1:28.046	+ 0.427	25
5.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault RB8	1:28.175	+ 0.556	22
6.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:28.447	+ 0.828	25
7.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari F2012	1:28.542	+ 0.923	24
8.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes AMG F1 W03	1:28.993	+ 1.374	23
9.	Daniel Ricciardo	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:29.204	+ 1.585	24
10.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:29.291	+ 1.672	24
11.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault FW34	1:29.691	+ 2.072	26
12.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:29.760	+ 2.141	23
13.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:29.802	+ 2.183	18
14.	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India Mercedes VJM05	1:29.850	+ 2.231	19
15.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Renault E20	1:29.895	+ 2.276	19
16.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault FW34	1:30.041	+ 2.422	26
17.	Jean-Éric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari STR7	1:30.401	+ 2.782	23
18.	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham Renault CT01	1:30.630	+ 3.011	24
19.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault CT01	1:30.896	+ 3.277	20
20.	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber Ferrari C31	1:31.212	+ 3.593	29
21.	Charles Pic	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:31.903	+ 4.284	22
22.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:32.125	+ 4.506	24
23.	Timo Glock	Marussia Racing Cosworth MR01	1:32.369	+ 4.750	19
24.	Pedro de la Rosa	HRTF1 Cosworth F112	1:32.859	+ 5.240	13