Nico Rosberg topped the opening Brazilian Grand Prix practice session ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton on Friday.
The session saw Rosberg just over two tenths faster, whilst several drivers struggled to get to grips with the resurfaced Interlagos track.
Dani Juncadella, driving Sergio Perez’s Force India, was the worst casualty. He hit the barriers at Curva do Laranjihna on lap 17, ending his outing.
Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen were just two others of a handful to make similar errors, though both avoided contact with the barriers.
The sister Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat however performed well with the Russian taking third behind Hamilton, albiet almost a second slower than Rosberg.
Fernando Alonso was fourth ahead of home favourite Felipe Massa.
Both Jenson Button and Esteban Gutierrez remained in the pits for almost the entire session due to problems, with both failing to set a timed lap.
FP1 Full Times – 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix:
# | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:12.764 | 30 | |
02 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:12.985 | 0.221 | 32 |
03 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:13.723 | 0.959 | 39 |
04 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:13.742 | 0.978 | 30 |
05 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:13.811 | 1.047 | 28 |
06 | 38 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:13.827 | 1.063 | 26 |
07 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:14.034 | 1.270 | 31 |
08 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:14.114 | 1.350 | 32 |
09 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:14.136 | 1.372 | 30 |
10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:14.197 | 1.433 | 27 |
11 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:14.434 | 1.670 | 31 |
12 | 40 | Felipe Nasr | Williams | 1:14.522 | 1.758 | 22 |
13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:14.678 | 1.914 | 33 |
14 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:14.902 | 2.138 | 24 |
15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:15.109 | 2.345 | 23 |
16 | 34 | Daniel Juncadella | Force India | 1:16.030 | 3.266 | 17 |
17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | No time | 1 | |
18 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | No time | 6 |