Lewis Hamilton led the opening practice session for the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix – the final race of the season which will decide the championship.
Title challenger Sebastian Vettel was just nine thousandths slower than Hamilton, with the former using 2012-spec tyres and the latter testing Pirelli’s new 2013 compound which is softer.
Mark Webber was third to confirm Red Bull’s ever competitive pace whilst Fernando Alonso could only manage fifth, behind Jenson Button.
The session was a fairly uneventful apart from a spin from Felipe Massa whilst the HRT duo of Narain Karthikeyan and Pedro de la Rosa were lap limited due to HRT’s constrained finances.
FP1 Results for the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 04 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:14.131 | 33 | |
| 02 | 01 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:14.140 | 0.009 | 35 |
| 03 | 02 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:14.198 | 0.067 | 34 |
| 04 | 03 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:14.217 | 0.086 | 31 |
| 05 | 05 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:14.392 | 0.261 | 28 |
| 06 | 06 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:14.716 | 0.585 | 29 |
| 07 | 10 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:14.719 | 0.588 | 33 |
| 08 | 11 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:14.738 | 0.607 | 34 |
| 09 | 18 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:15.015 | 0.884 | 37 |
| 10 | 12 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:15.050 | 0.919 | 32 |
| 11 | 07 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:15.114 | 0.983 | 36 |
| 12 | 14 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:15.255 | 1.124 | 31 |
| 13 | 15 | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:15.396 | 1.265 | 32 |
| 14 | 19 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:15.413 | 1.282 | 23 |
| 15 | 16 | D. Ricciardo | STR | 1:15.587 | 1.456 | 35 |
| 16 | 09 | K. Räikkönen | Lotus | 1:15.701 | 1.570 | 16 |
| 17 | 17 | J. Vergne | STR | 1:16.048 | 1.917 | 35 |
| 18 | 08 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:16.315 | 2.184 | 36 |
| 19 | 20 | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 1:16.460 | 2.329 | 32 |
| 20 | 24 | T. Glock | Marussia | 1:16.506 | 2.375 | 31 |
| 21 | 21 | V. Petrov | Caterham | 1:16.617 | 2.486 | 30 |
| 22 | 25 | C. Pic | Marussia | 1:17.234 | 3.103 | 26 |
| 23 | 22 | P. de la Rosa | HRT | 1:17.678 | 3.547 | 15 |
| 24 | 23 | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:17.895 | 3.764 | 13 |
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