Brazil GP – Free Practice 1: Webber Ahead of McLaren, Grosjean Dominates Senna

First free practice session here at Interlagos and first information: the weather is nice and warm. Another piece of information, present today in the role of third driver: Romain Grosjean at Lotus Renault GP, Nico Hülkenberg at Force India (one year after his surprise pole position with Williams), Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso, Luiz Razia at Team Lotus, and Jan Charouz at HRT. At LRGP, both drivers will have the full power of the engine to compete against each other.

Here we go for the last weekend of the 2011 Formula 1 season and the first driver to leave the pits is Heikki Kovalainen followed by Charouz. Already a dozen cars on track for a first installation lap. Of the three top teams, only Fernando Alonso has left his box. Massa is on the track in turn: the Scuderia is visibly testing front wings. The first significant time is set by Michael Schumacher at 1:19.730; he quickly improves by three seconds. His teammate, the second man to have set a time, is five seconds behind. No one else is on track while Alonso is on the pit wall, suit half unzipped. Charouz sets his first time at 1:23.800 and very provisionally ranks third. Grosjean sets 1:17.368 against 1:17.939 for Senna: the battle of the chronos in the Enstone team begins. Senna improves his time by more than a second and takes the lead of this session with an hour and ten minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Ricciardo falls four tenths short of Charouz.

Grosjean clocks 1:16.072 and takes the lead position; he improves by three milliseconds on the next lap. Senna also improves but remains six-tenths behind. This internal battle is the only real excitement at the start of these free practice sessions. Massa and Schumacher move into the top two spots; the Paulista clocks 1:15.473. It’s noteworthy that some drivers have fitted Pirelli test tires to prepare for the 2012 season for the Italian manufacturer. It’s Hamilton’s turn to make his mark, going to the top of the timesheet with 1:15.078. On the French side, Vergne has not completed a single timed lap even though half an hour has already passed, and for a good reason: the KERS of the Toro Rosso is broken, so he is stuck in the pits. Meanwhile, Vettel takes to the track: on this occasion, he is equipped with an onboard camera on his helmet, allowing viewers to have a closer perspective of the driver’s view. The reigning double-world champion ranks second three-tenths behind Lewis Hamilton. Button ranks third.

Fifty minutes from the end, Hamilton leads Vettel, Button, and Massa. Vergne is finally out, his KERS system supposedly operational. The Frenchman lost half an hour with this small incident and will need to get used to the track before clocking decent times. Maldonado has a small scare at the entrance of the Senna S’s but stays on the track and in the right direction. Grosjean improves his time and moves to eighth position with 1:15.683, 1.3 seconds behind Hamilton. The Briton is then bumped off by Vettel with a 1:14.025. The small Interlagos track is crowded, and traffic is already intense. Hülkenberg is currently in fifth position: the third Force India driver clocked 1:15.241. Romain Grosjean is four-tenths ahead of Bruno Senna with forty minutes left in the session.

Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Massa, Button, Hülkenberg, Alguersuari, Grosjean, Rosberg, and Schumacher; that’s the top 10 with less than forty minutes remaining in this first free practice session. Vergne is improving slowly but surely with each lap, while among the big names, Alonso still hasn’t set a time; he is the only one in this situation. There is a brief lull on the Brazilian track as a number of drivers are on long runs. Button is the first driver to go under 1:14, achieving 1:13.950. Alonso takes sixth place.

With less than half an hour to go, Button, Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Massa, Alonso, Hülkenberg, Rosberg, Di Resta, and Alguersuari make up the top 10. Button improves his time by 125 thousandths. Yellow flag deployed on the track: it’s for Romain Grosjean, whose Lotus Renault is stuck at the pit exit. The Frenchman is suffering from a gearbox problem, according to Jean-Louis Moncet. Meanwhile, no change at the front. Vergne has returned to the track and continues to make slow improvements. Among the smaller teams, for now, Luiz Razia is making a good impression, only six-tenths behind Kovalainen; D’Ambrosio is five-tenths behind Glock and at HRT, Charouz is six-tenths behind Ricciardo. Alguersuari makes a small mistake in Mergulho but manages well by easing off.

Webber takes the lead with less than twenty minutes remaining in these FP1, ahead of Button, Hamilton, Vettel, Massa, Alonso, Schumacher, Hülkenberg, Di Resta, and Rosberg. Grosjean, stopped for ten minutes, is twelfth and still ahead of Senna by two-tenths. Vergne is eighteenth, six-tenths behind Alguersuari. It’s rather calm on the track as only ten minutes remain. The top 10 rankings are expected to change in the moments to come. Vergne slightly hinders Kovalainen in Ferradura, which displeases the Finn during his flying lap. Alonso stops at the bottom of the Senna S, visibly suffering from a clutch problem, causing a yellow flag that forces drivers to slow down at that point. Only three more minutes to improve on Webber’s 1:13.811, under the watchful eye of Fernando Alonso, a spectator right by the track. Time is up and neither Button, Hamilton, nor Vettel improve. Grosjean is twelfth but did not participate in the end of the session due to a stubborn gearbox, while Jean-Eric Vergne takes the eighteenth position, himself a victim of a KERS problem at the start of the session.

Results of Free Practice 1 – 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix: