United States – Free Practice 1: Hamilton leads Rosberg and Button in Austin

The weather is radiant over Austin for the opening of the 17th round of the 2014 calendar. The track is slightly damp in some places because it rained during the night.

On the drivers’ side, Felipe Nasr drives in place of Valtteri Bottas at Williams and Max Verstappen in place of Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso.

The session is underway and the first on track is Sergio Perez. The initial laps by drivers at Ferrari are dedicated to data collection, as the Italian team has clearly stated its intention to test parts for 2015 during these practice sessions. Thus, Kimi Räikkönen is equipped with a measuring instrument attached to the front of the cockpit. The first drivers to set times are the two Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Nico Rosberg, clocking 1:49.1 and 1:50.2 respectively. At Force India, mechanics are busy at the rear of Nico Hülkenberg’s car, which is not expected to hit the track soon.

After half an hour, Magnussen leads Button and Alonso. Romain Grosjean, who is testing an experimental wing, returns to the pits complaining of front delamination. An effect of the new wing? In any case, all drivers have returned to give Pirelli the extra set of medium (white) tires made available to the teams for the first half hour. Button is back on track: he takes the lead, more than seven-tenths ahead of his teammate.

After a long period without any single-seaters on the track, during which it was possible to admire the distinct yet notable beards of Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso, Verstappen breaks the silence. However, for the Australian from Red Bull, an ERS problem will force him to miss the rest of the session. After Rosberg missed an attempt to take the lead, Hamilton wastes no time and sets a 1:40.106. His teammate improves his time but falls short by a tenth.

After an hour, Hamilton leads Rosberg, Button, Kvyat, and Magnussen. The championship leader, despite being hindered in the last sector, manages to improve his time. He finally breaks the 1:40.0 barrier moments later. Alonso seems to be struggling with his very unstable Ferrari at the rear. For Lotus, the test of the “2015 type” nose is over, and Grosjean returns to the track with the usual front of the E22; without much success as he makes a mistake, followed a few hundred meters later by his teammate, Pastor Maldonado. Vettel ends his session a little earlier than planned, not without inspecting the rear of his RB10.

The long stints follow one another during the last five minutes, and the order no longer changes: Lewis Hamilton leads Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button. Kimi Räikkönen is stopped in the pit lane and has to be pushed back by his team; he seems to have been surprised and missed his pit stop.