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The opening
Friday practice for the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix Felipe Nasr would be
making his final appearance for the Williams Martini team prior to him
moving to Sauber in 2014. For Williams Nasr would be first out on their
installation lap pitting after one lap. For Button his weekend would get off
to a poor start when he was to have his car stop as he was returning to his
pit. Replays would seem to suggest Button's car shut itself down as he was
slowing on approach to the pitlane speed limit line. All eighteen cars would
complete their installation laps with the track becoming empty. Pirelli had
brought their medium and soft tyres for the weekend with the teams getting
an extra set of medium tyres to use in the first half hour of
this session.
Verstappen was back in the Torro Rosso while Juncadella was back in the
Force India, taking over from Perez. Both Torro Rosso cars would come back
out along with both Sauber's. Maldonado would also take to the track with
Alonso following him out. Verstappen would set a 1m:19.999 to record the
first time. A 1m:20.322 from Sutil on his first lap with Kvyat now third. For Williams Nasr would take to
the track along with several other drivers including Grosjean and
Juncadella. With the use of the extra set of tyres more drivers would come
out including both Mercedes and Red Bulls. Verstappen would set a 1m:17.712
with Alonso now second. Raikkonen would go fastest with a 1m:17.402 from
Verstappen and Alonso. Alonso would go quickest with a 1m:16.921 with Kvyat
now second followed by Raikkonen, Verstappen, Sutil, Rosberg, Maldonado and
Grosjean.
Massa was also out on the track with Nasr's first time a 1m:21.227 as Sutil
went second behind Alonso. Rosberg would go to the top of the times with a
1m:15.450 with Nasr now second, 1m:16.047. Hamilton would move ahead of
Rosberg with a 1m:15.337 with Alonso third. Kvyat would move into this spot
with Raikkonen following him to be third. Nasr was now sixth with Massa seventh, 1m:16.194.
Rosberg would complete another lap going fastest with a 1m:15.002. Nasr
would improve to be fourth with a 1m:15.637, with Massa now seventh.,
1m:15.948. Hamilton would respond to Rosberg setting a 1m:14.172 to again be
quickest by 0.830.
Grosjean was now third followed by Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Nasr,
Massa, Kvyat, and Alonso tenth. Rosberg would also respond to Hamilton by
setting a 1m:14.001 to again be quickest. Kvyat was now third from Alonso as
Hamilton set a 1m:13.468 to be again quickest by half a second. Both
Williams cars had pitted as the first half an hour drew to a close. Nasr and Massa were now tenth and
eleventh. It was reported that Buttons problem was an ERS issue which would
most likely take most of the session to resolve. The track was now empty
with the drivers returning their extra set of tyres. Magnussen would be
first back out and would set a 1m:15.550 to be tenth. His next lap would see him set a 1m:14.312 to
be third. He would improve with a 1m:14.136 with just over forty five
minutes remaining. Magnussen would pit as Kvyat came back out.
Verstappen would also come out a few minutes later with both Button and
Gutierrez yet to set a time. With just over forty minutes remaining
Raikkonen would return to the track joined by Sutil and Hulkenberg.
Verstappen would set a 1m:13.827 to move into second splitting the Mercedes
cars. Both Lotus cars were also out on the track with Rosberg being the
first back out for Mercedes followed by Hamilton. Hulkenberg would move up
to eleventh but as Maldonado went ninth this would become twelfth. Sutil was
on a better lap finishing in eleventh with a 1m:15.159. Hamilton would go
fastest in sector one as we had both Torro Rosso cars having moments on the
track with lots of oversteer producing big slides. Rosberg was also on a
quick lap going fastest in the middle sector setting a 1m:13.122. The lap
times were coming down quite quickly running on the new track surface.
Sutil was up to seventh with a 1m:14.422 and Maldonado eighth. Maldonado
would also improve his lap time setting a 1m:14.034 to be fourth. Raikkonen
was now fifth, 1m:14.114, while for Williams Massa would be first back out.
Both Williams cars had being limiting the number of laps they were running
with Nasr and Massa having only complete nine laps each. Rosberg was able to
find more time with a 1m:12.764 with Hamilton now second with a time of
1m:12.985. Verstappen would pit, currently in third, followed by Maldonado,
Raikkonen, Magnussen, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Sutil, and Hulkenberg tenth. Yellow
flags would come out as we had Juncadella putting his car into the barriers
at Turn eight. The session would be red flagged allowing the
Force India car to be removed. For Williams they would comment that their
main focus this morning was to start gathering tyre information on the new
asphalt, with both drivers reporting low grip after their first runs. The
track was now empty as the Force India was removed.
The session would be restarted with Hamilton and Massa both coming out
straight away, with twenty minutes remaining. Both Torro Rosso cars were
also back out along with Hulkenberg and Alonso. Hamilton would pit while
Vettel also come back out. Alonso would move into ninth, 1m:14.351, as
Rosberg took to the track. With under fifteen minutes remaining the track was now very busy with Massa
completing more laps but he was down the order in thirteenth, 1m:14.992.
Nasr was now back out on the track as Alonso continued to find time moving
up to third with a time of 1m:13.742. Verstappen was now fourth and
Maldonado fifth as Kvyat moved into third with a time of 1m:13.723. Massa and Nasr were now in thirteenth
and fifteen positions as the final ten minutes of the session started. Massa
would finally find time setting a 1m:14.339 to now be tenth. Verstappen
would pit joined by Alonso who would stop briefly.
Massa would improve to be ninth with a 1m:14.186 but this was 1.4 seconds
off the quickest time of Rosberg. The top ten was Rosberg from Hamilton,
Kvyat, Alonso, Verstappen, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Magnussen, Massa, and
Ricciardo tenth. Nasr was also able to find time setting a 1m:14.522 to now
be twelfth. Neither Button or Gutierrez had set a time as the final minutes of the session started. Button
was able into his car but was not able to get out onto the track in the
final moments. Gutierrez was also able to get out but had yet to set a time
returning to his pit. Nasr had also pitted briefly but Massa would improve
to be fifth, 1m:13.811, seeing Verstappen now sixth. Massa would pit as the
session ended but he would return as the drivers started to pit. In the last
moments of the session Raikkonen would spin at Turn twelve having put his
car onto the grass. So with the end of the session the Williams team would
see their cars in fifth and twelfth. A positive start to the weekend for the
team despite being a bit off the pace of the Mercedes. |
