Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the first practice session of the Malaysian Grand Prix, stopping the clock at 1:34.921. His teammate Jenson Button nearly gave the McLaren a 1-2 on Friday morning, but a late fast lap from Nico Rosberg brought the German the 2nd best time of the first 90 minutes of action.
The majority of the first practice session saw the big teams focusing on long runs, trying to get the necessary information on a potential one-stop pit strategy on Sunday. Under the circumstances, Hamilton's and Button's fast times mid-way through P1 were not challenged by anyone – except for Rosberg, who came 0.185 seconds behind later on – while Michael Schumacher completed the McLaren/Mercedes sandwich in 4th place.
The first part of the session was taken over by the small teams, with Robert Kubica leading the pack before the McLaren duo stepped in. The Pole eventually had to settle for the 5th fastest time of the day, while followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber and Force India's Adrian Sutil. Championship leader Fernando Alonso was 8th in the morning, more than a second behind pace setter Hamilton.
His Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa had a hard first practice on Friday, as the Brazilian driver made two excursions to the gravel (in 22 laps) to eventually finish with the 11th fastest time of the day, behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi.
Something was again not quite right with Vettel's RB6, as the German driver at one point slowed down dramatically due to some issues with his car.
Here are the official lap times of the Malaysian P1 on Friday:
01. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:34.921
02. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:35.106
03. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:35.207
04. Michael Schumacher ( Mercedes) 1:35.225
05. Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:35.402
06. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 1:35.479
07. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 1:35.955
08. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:35.959
09. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1:35.043
10. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:36.100
11. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:36.451
12. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) 1:36.503
13. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:36.645
14. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 1:36.712
15. Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) 1:36.891
16. Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber-Ferrari) 1:36.899
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams-Cosworth) 1:37.802
18. Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) 1:38.278
19. Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Cosworth) 1:39.460
20. Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) 1:39.755
21. Lucas di Grassi (Virgin-Cosworth) 1:40.159
22. Fairuz Fauzy (Lotus-Cosworth) 1:40.721
23. Bruno Senna (HRT-Cosworth) 1:41.832
24. Karun Chandhok (HRT-Cosworth) 1:41.966
The first part of the session was taken over by the small teams, with Robert Kubica leading the pack before the McLaren duo stepped in. The Pole eventually had to settle for the 5th fastest time of the day, while followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber and Force India's Adrian Sutil. Championship leader Fernando Alonso was 8th in the morning, more than a second behind pace setter Hamilton.
His Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa had a hard first practice on Friday, as the Brazilian driver made two excursions to the gravel (in 22 laps) to eventually finish with the 11th fastest time of the day, behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi.
Something was again not quite right with Vettel's RB6, as the German driver at one point slowed down dramatically due to some issues with his car.
Here are the official lap times of the Malaysian P1 on Friday:
01. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:34.921
02. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:35.106
03. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:35.207
04. Michael Schumacher ( Mercedes) 1:35.225
05. Robert Kubica (Renault) 1:35.402
06. Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 1:35.479
07. Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) 1:35.955
08. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:35.959
09. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 1:35.043
10. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:36.100
11. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:36.451
12. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) 1:36.503
13. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 1:36.645
14. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 1:36.712
15. Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) 1:36.891
16. Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber-Ferrari) 1:36.899
17. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams-Cosworth) 1:37.802
18. Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) 1:38.278
19. Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Cosworth) 1:39.460
20. Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) 1:39.755
21. Lucas di Grassi (Virgin-Cosworth) 1:40.159
22. Fairuz Fauzy (Lotus-Cosworth) 1:40.721
23. Bruno Senna (HRT-Cosworth) 1:41.832
24. Karun Chandhok (HRT-Cosworth) 1:41.966
Google News