India – Free Practice 1: Vettel Marks His Territory

It is under a slightly hazy sky but with temperatures already at 25°C in the air and 30°C on the track that the drivers are preparing to take to the track at the Buddh Circuit. At Sauber, they have decided to rest Sergio Pérez, who is unwell, with Esteban Gutiérrez taking the seat of the C31 marked with number 15 for this first free practice session, which will also feature Giedo Van der Garde at Caterham and Valtteri Bottas at Williams.

As usual, the drivers perform their installation laps and begin conducting a few aerodynamic assessments with the greenish flow visualization fluid. However, the drivers do not seem in a hurry to attack the stopwatch on a track that is still green and dusty. Thus, it almost takes until half an hour into the practice for Gutiérrez to be the first driver to complete a timed lap, at a leisurely pace, in 1:46.071 before significantly improving to 1:40.846.

Lewis Hamilton does better a few moments later with a 1:37.354, but very quickly, the under-one-thirty mark doesn’t hold against the drivers, with Jenson Button being the first to break it with a 1:29.684. Thus, at mid-session, the Briton leads Rosberg, Grosjean, Hülkenberg, Di Resta, Bottas, Massa, Hamilton, Ricciardo, and Van der Garde.

Michael Schumacher and then Mark Webber move to the top of the timesheet, with 1:28.963 for the Australian, still on Hard tires while most teams are expected to save the Soft tires for the second practice session. The great Mark is quickly joined by his teammate and Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard even managing to share the best time with the native of Queanbeyan.

The Red Bull driver, however, pulls away by clocking a lap in 1:28.229, seven-tenths ahead of the Ferrari driver, while Vettel and Hamilton slot in between the two, the German at 1:28.532 and the Briton at 1:28.765.

On the attack, Fernando Alonso almost makes a mistake exiting turn 5 but still manages to secure the best time with 1:28.210 before Lewis Hamilton surpasses him with 1:28.046. On track to improve, the McLaren driver chooses to return to the pits.

As the final ten minutes of the session approach, Sebastian Vettel snatches pole position from Lewis Hamilton by just a hundredth, with a time of 1:28.036. But as if that weren’t tight enough, Fernando Alonso inserts his F2012, like threading a needle, between Vettel and Hamilton. However, in the closing minutes, the German driver widens his lead by clocking a lap of 1:27.619 while Jenson Button, who had been trailing until then, joins the Red Bull driver under the one minute twenty-eight mark.

At the checkered flag, Sebastian Vettel maintains the fastest time ahead of Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton. Further back, the Lotus drivers are in tenth and fifteenth positions, while Esteban Gutiérrez, replacing the ailing Sergio Pérez, achieves the 20th fastest time in his official Formula One debut.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2012 Indian Grand Prix: