United States – Free Practice 1: Alonso in a Chaotic Session

It’s the fog that greeted the Formula 1 world this morning in Austin. Meteorological conditions prompted the FIA to postpone the start of the first practice session by 10 minutes initially, before it was further postponed by an additional 10 minutes, leading to a total delay of 40 minutes. The session finally began at 4:40 PM (French time) but lasted only 60 minutes instead of 90. This won’t bode well for Heikki Kovalainen, who is replacing Kimi Räikkönen at Lotus. The Finn is indeed the first to hit the track to try to acclimate to his new car.

At Toro Rosso, Daniil Kvyat is lined up in place of Jean-Eric Vergne. Alexander Rossi replaces Giedo Van der Garde, while Bianchi also acts as an observer in place of Gonzalez.

Jenson Button is the first to set a time in this session with a lap of 1:41.943. After 15 minutes, the red flag is out in Austin. The reason is a technical problem with one of the circuit’s helicopters.

At this moment, 5 drivers have completed a lap time: Button leads Pérez, Hülkenberg, Rossi, and Pic. When the session resumes, it’s a rush to the end of the pit lane. It’s important to note that only 30 minutes of running time remain in this first practice session. It’s very slippery on this track, which is not often used.

Fernando Alonso dislodges Button from first place with a time of 1:38.767. He is followed by Mark Webber. Further back, Heikki Kovalainen registers his name in 7th place, a good second behind the Spanish driver.

After numerous successive changes in the hierarchy this morning, the rankings hardly change in the final minutes.

This first session ends with the best time of Fernando Alonso at 1:38.343, ahead of Jenson Button, Bottas, Gutiérrez, and Rosberg. Hamilton, Massa, Webber, Hülkenberg, and Maldonado complete the top 10. Kovalainen is 13th and Daniil Kvyat is in 17th position.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2013 United States Grand Prix: