With just two races remaining this season, the battle for the World title has reached crunch time with five drivers still in the hunt.Sebastian Vettel set the pace, clocking a 1:12.328 to easily finish ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber. The two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were next in line, both within a second of Vettel's P1 time.
However, the fifth driver in the title race, Fernando Alonso, could only manage the 13th best time, 1.918s down on Vettel. Pace, though, wasn't his only problem as the Ferrari driver also finished the session sitting on the sidlines after an apparent technical failure.
Report: Blue skies greeted the drivers at the start of Friday's first practice session at Interlagos, although a gathering bank of dark clouds could soon move towards the track. Sebastien Buemi got proceedings underway, leading out the pack for their installation laps. The Toro Rosso driver opted to stay out, setting a 1:27.979 as the early benchmark time. And although drivers continued to venture out, it was for short run of two laps, which meant no times were set for more than half an hour. And when that lap time finally came it was once again Buemi, now with a 1:21.025.
Vitaly Petrov joined the action, setting a new benchmark time of a 1:17.098. The Renault rookie continued lapping, dropping to a 1:14.659 with Jaime Alguersuari and Christian Klien slotting in behind him. Rubens Barrichello was the next to lead the way with a 1:14.152 while Michael Schumacher took third place behind Petrov. Schumacher improved to second place with Mark Webber taking third place as the big guns finally ventured out.
Robert Kubica briefly took control of the session before losing out to Webber, who went top with a 1:13.168 as he put in a long distance run in his RB6. Lewis Hamilton slotted into second place and Sebastian Vettel, third. As for Fernando Alonso, he was P10 while Jenson Button had yet to set a time.
Hamilton overhauled Webber at the front, 0.030s up on the Aussie. However, he then lost out to Vettel, who went a further 0.494s quicker. Button, finally setting lap times, quickly climbed to fourth place. Finally, some action as Alguersuari ran off the track, spinning on the grass before getting back into the running. Webber moved up to second place behind his German team-mate, 0.482s slower.
Timo Glock, the only driver yet to set a lap time, hit the track with just 20 minutes remaining. The Virgin Racing driver clocked a 1:17.810, slowest of the pack.
Petrov became the first retirement of the session when the Renault driver lost the back end of his car, forcing him off the track and into the barriers. Game over for the Russian, who thankfully was not hurt in the shunt.
With the yellow flags lifted, the drivers put in their final runs, however, that proved to be very final for Alonso as he came to a stop on the side of the track. Seconds later Kamui Kobayashi suffered yet another accident after making contact with Glock, which punctured his tyre, and sent him hurtling into the barriers.
The session ended with Vettel fastest, followed by Webber, Hamilton, Button, Kubica and Nico Rosberg.
Times
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:12.328 23 laps
02. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:12.810 + 0.482 27 laps
03. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.845 + 0.517 24 laps
04. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.267 + 0.939 23 laps
05. Kubica Renault 1:13.370 + 1.042 23 laps
06. Rosberg Mercedes 1:13.516 + 1.188 25 laps
07. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:13.546 + 1.218 25 laps
08. Schumacher Mercedes 1:13.643 + 1.315 24 laps
09. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:13.918 + 1.590 25 laps
10. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari 1:14.000 + 1.672 22 laps
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:14.004 + 1.676 23 laps
12. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:14.155 + 1.827 28 laps
13. Alonso Ferrari 1:14.246 + 1.918 20 laps
14. Massa Ferrari 1:14.267 + 1.939 25 laps
15. Petrov Renault 1:14.370 + 2.042 23 laps
16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:14.487 + 2.159 25 laps
17. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:14.618 + 2.290 29 laps
18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:14.734 + 2.406 28 laps
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:15.603 + 3.275 24 laps
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:15.860 + 3.532 20 laps
21. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:16.057 + 3.729 25 laps
22. d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:16.707 + 4.379 27 laps
23. Klien HRT-Cosworth 1:16.839 + 4.511 18 laps
24. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:17.360 + 5.032 29 laps
Source: Planet-F1
