Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel continued his strong form in India with the fastest lap of the New Delhi circuit on Friday morning.
The German, who has won the last three races, moved to the top of the table toward the end of the session, to move three tenths clear of McLaren’s Jenson Button.
Championship contendor Fernando Alonso split the McLarens, placing his Ferrari third, just two thousandths ahead of Lewis Hamilton who is looking to bounce back from a string of poor results.
Mark Webber completed the top five with Nico Rosbrg, Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Räikkönen the top ten.
Valtteri Bottas replaced Bruno Senna at Williams for the first session and impressed with the 11th quickest time, some two tenths faster than team-mate Pastor Maldonado.
Meanwhile, Esteban Guttierez replaced an unwell Sergio Perez, managing 29 almost error free laps to post the 20th quickest time behind Giedo van der Garde who sat in Heikki Kovalainen’s seat for the hour and a half session.
FP1: 2012 Indian Grand Prix Times
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:27.619 | 22 | |
| 02 | 3 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:27.929 | 0.310 | 22 |
| 03 | 5 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:28.044 | 0.425 | 24 |
| 04 | 4 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:28.046 | 0.427 | 25 |
| 05 | 2 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:28.175 | 0.556 | 22 |
| 06 | 8 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:28.447 | 0.828 | 25 |
| 07 | 6 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:28.542 | 0.923 | 24 |
| 08 | 7 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:28.993 | 1.374 | 23 |
| 09 | 16 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:29.204 | 1.585 | 24 |
| 10 | 9 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:29.291 | 1.672 | 24 |
| 11 | 19 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:29.691 | 2.072 | 26 |
| 12 | 11 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:29.760 | 2.141 | 23 |
| 13 | 14 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:29.802 | 2.183 | 18 |
| 14 | 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:29.850 | 2.231 | 19 |
| 15 | 10 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:29.895 | 2.276 | 19 |
| 16 | 18 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:30.041 | 2.422 | 26 |
| 17 | 17 | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:30.401 | 2.782 | 23 |
| 18 | 21 | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:30.630 | 3.011 | 24 |
| 19 | 20 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:30.896 | 3.277 | 20 |
| 20 | 15 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:31.212 | 3.593 | 29 |
| 21 | 25 | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:31.903 | 4.284 | 22 |
| 22 | 23 | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:32.125 | 4.506 | 24 |
| 23 | 24 | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:32.369 | 4.750 | 19 |
| 24 | 22 | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:32.859 | 5.240 | 13 |
