India – Free Practice 1: Vettel is not satisfied

It is under a cloudy sky with occasional clear spells that the sixteenth round of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship opens at the Buddh Circuit in India. The track temperature is 32°C and the air temperature is 26°C.

On the drivers’ side, it is worth noting that James Calado is replacing Paul di Resta, who is unwell, but should comfortably regain his seat during Free Practice 2.

Fernando Alonso is wearing a special helmet for this race, predominantly white, commemorating the new record he holds: that of the driver with the most points scored in F1. A record, of course, to be taken with perspective, as the points system has significantly evolved over the past ten years.

The session begins under a light fog that Pastor Maldonado immediately sets out to cut through with a knife, with his Williams on medium (white) tires. The soft (yellow) tires will probably not be used for this first session. All the drivers are completing their installation laps; the leading teams, however, are not expected to send their drivers out immediately for stints, as the track is too dusty. Romain Grosjean, one of the standout drivers of this end of the season, completes installation laps on mediums before calmly returning to the pit. Calm prevails.

After a quarter of an hour, still no time has been recorded and, furthermore, no car is on the track. Fernando Alonso takes the opportunity to relax in the company of Marc Gené and Pedro de la Rosa in the Ferrari garage. At Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel is sitting cross-legged at the back of the pits and talking with Helmuth Marko. Work has begun at Toro Rosso where an oil leak has been detected on Daniel Ricciardo’s car.

Just before the half-hour of the session, Sergio Pérez sets the first timed laps on mediums. The Mexican’s times are relatively decent (the best being 1:28.207), prompting Jules Bianchi to say that the other drivers should head out fairly quickly. This is confirmed moments later as Pic, Van der Garde, Bottas, Maldonado, Vergne, and Ricciardo take to the track.

After 45 minutes, Pérez is ahead of Bottas, Maldonado, Button, and Vergne. The first top driver on track for a timed lap is Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes. Jenson Button takes the lead of the session with a 1:27.995, quickly topped by Keke’s son with a 1:27.937. The drivers from the leading teams flood the track: only Webber and Grosjean are missing, but they soon join their peers. Vettel and Rosberg exchange the top spot on the timesheets. On the Ferrari side, there’s a gearbox problem for Fernando Alonso, who returns to the pits at low speed.

Half an hour from the end, Vettel, in 1:26.683, leads Rosberg, Massa, Webber, and Button. The Lotus driver climbs back to third place, three-tenths behind the triple world champion. Maldonado entertains the sparse Indian crowd with a hefty slide in the fast section. At Lotus, a small blunder by the mechanics damaged the front wing of Grosjean’s car: when the single-seater was placed back on the ground, the brake fan was underneath, which resulted in lightening the carbon E21.

With twenty minutes remaining, Vettel leads ahead of Rosberg, Grosjean, Webber, and Button. Alonso is still stuck in the pits due to his gearbox problem – to the point where the mechanics are dismantling the undertray, signaling the end of the session for the Spaniard – while Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen are in distant 15th and 17th places, evidently loaded with fuel. James Calado is on the attack and has a slight scare on the famous orange “Massa” curb of the Buddh track, just like Max Chilton a few moments later.

While there are about ten minutes remaining, the leading drivers go out for a final stint. Hamilton, on the other hand, can post fast times after having done significant groundwork: he clocks a 1:27.774 and moves up to eighth place, 1.1 seconds behind Vettel. Webber takes the second position, missing his teammate by less than two-tenths, while Grosjean secures fourth place. James Calado makes a mistake in the last sector but manages to avoid getting stuck in the gravel: he gets back on track and heads straight to the pits. Räikkönen will also be able to embark on performance laps: the first suffers from a missed first sector and doesn’t improve his standings. Finally, Grosjean, in his last attempt, matches Vettel in the first two sectors but misses the third. He doesn’t improve as the session ends with the checkered flag.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2013 Indian Grand Prix: