Fernando Alonso was the quickest driver during the opening practice session for the United States Grand Prix, but the times don’t give an accurate picture of where people stand.
That’s largely because fog shrouded the circuit during the first 40-minutes of the session, leading to a lengthy delay.
Finally, the session began at 40-minutes past the hour, but was again red flagged for “further problems with the medical helicopter” which was absent.
Once the helicopter landed, the session got underwar again, with Alonso topping the time just ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Valtteri Bottas.
Championship winner Sebastian Vettel was all the way down in 18th.
FP1 Full Times – 2013 United States Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:38.343 | 16 | |
| 02 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:38.371 | 0.028 | 25 |
| 03 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:38.388 | 0.045 | 17 |
| 04 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:38.532 | 0.189 | 18 |
| 05 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.657 | 0.314 | 21 |
| 06 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:38.979 | 0.636 | 21 |
| 07 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:39.005 | 0.662 | 17 |
| 08 | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:39.083 | 0.740 | 17 |
| 09 | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1:39.158 | 0.815 | 17 |
| 10 | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:39.200 | 0.857 | 15 |
| 11 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 1:39.238 | 0.895 | 13 |
| 12 | S. Perez | McLaren | 1:39.256 | 0.913 | 17 |
| 13 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:39.487 | 1.144 | 18 |
| 14 | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:39.699 | 1.356 | 15 |
| 15 | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:39.836 | 1.493 | 15 |
| 16 | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 1:39.863 | 1.520 | 19 |
| 17 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:40.065 | 1.722 | 20 |
| 18 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:40.662 | 2.319 | 21 |
| 19 | A. Rossi | Caterham | 1:41.399 | 3.056 | 21 |
| 20 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:41.605 | 3.262 | 19 |
| 21 | C. Pic | Caterham | 1:42.054 | 3.711 | 19 |
| 22 | R. Gonzalez | Marussia | 1:43.716 | 5.373 | 17 |
