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FP1: Mercedes has the edge over Red Bull Racing

FP1: Mercedes has the edge over Red Bull Racing

  • Published on 11 Oct 2013 06:39
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra
The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg led the Red Bull pair of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in an incident-filled first practice session in Japan on Friday morning.

Hamilton quickly took control of proceedings at the challenging Suzuka circuit, setting a series of fastest times, culminating in 1m 34.157s to beat team mate Rosberg's 1m 34.487s by 0.330s. The German briefly overshot the chicane towards the end of the 90 minutes while seeking to go faster.

The Red Bulls weren't far behind, however, with Sebastian Vettel on 1m 34.768s and Mark Webber right on his tail with 1m 34.787s in an RB9 built-up around a new chassis following his crash and fire during last week's race in Korea.

Felipe Massa led Ferrari's challenge with 1m 35.126s, with hard-trying team mate Fernando Alonso wheel-locking his way to 1m 35.154s. Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen were also in the mix for Lotus, with 1m 35.179s and 1m 35.364s respectively. Sergio Perez was ninth for McLaren with 1m 35.450s as Daniel Ricciardo pushed his Toro Rosso ahead of Jenson Button's McLaren to complete the top 10. The Australian lapped in 1m 35.635s compared to the Briton's 1m 35.868s. Nico Hulkenberg was the final runner below 1m 36s, with 1m 35.900s for Sauber.

Jean-Eric Vergne was 12th in the second Toro Rosso on 1m 36.066s, followed by Adrian Sutil's Force India on 1m 36.165s, Pastor Maldonado's Williams on 1m 36.178s, Valtteri Bottas' Williams on 1m 36.340s, Paul di Resta's Force India on 1m 36.399s and Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber on 1m 36.760s.

Maldonado completed only part of the session, as his Williams shed its left rear wheel at Turn 14, the Spoon Curve, shortly after leaving the pits. Marussia's Jules Bianchi and Caterham's Giedo van der Garde also had their sessions curtailed early as both drivers were caught out at the tricky Degner 2 corner. Bianchi went off with nearly an hour remaining, hitting the tyre wall and removing his front wing and left front wheel, while soon after Maldonado's drama Van der Garde went straight into the gravel, although he managed to aoid hitting anything.

Max Chilton also had a spin while learning the track in his Marussia, so at the back the order read Heikki Kovalainen on 1m 37.595s as he deputised for Charles Pic at Caterham, Bianchi on 1m 37.629s, Van der Garde on 1m 38.025s and Chilton on 1m 38.763s.

Everybody set their times on Pirelli's orange-marked hard compound tyres with the white-marked medium compound rubber set to get its first outing in the afternoon FP2 session. (Formula1.com)
F1 News Fernando Alonso Jenson Button Valtteri Bottas Felipe Massa Romain Grosjean Pastor Maldonado Daniel Ricciardo Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel Sergio Perez Esteban Gutierrez Ferrari Pirelli Lotus F1 Mercedes Sauber Williams McLaren Force India Marussia

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Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
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Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia
Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
19 - Apr 21
China
Shanghai International Circuit
3 - May 5
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
Italy
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
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Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
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Circuit de Catalunya
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Hungary
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Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
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Italy
Monza
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Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
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Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
Losail International Circuit
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
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Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
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Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
Japan Circuit Suzuka
19 - Apr 21
China Shanghai International Circuit
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
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Italy Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
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Canada Gilles Villeneuve
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Spain Circuit de Catalunya
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United Kingdom Silverstone
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Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
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23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
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Mexico Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
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Brazil Interlagos
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ES Fernando Alonso 14
  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 552
  • Podiums 9
  • Grand Prix 160
  • Country ES
  • Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (43)
  • Place of b. Oviedo, ES
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.71 m
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