Vettel tops first practice at India

F1 Grand Prix, GP India, Buddh International Circuit

Sebatian Vettel topped the timesheets during the first practice session ahead of the Indian Grand Prix. His Red Bull Racing team mate Mark Webber was second fastest, ahead of Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean.

Pastor Maldonado was the first man out on track to do an installation lap. He's of course soon followed by many others, only to return to the pitlane for some initial car checks. Among them is James Calado, driving the Force India of Paul Di Resta during this session as the latter reportedly doesn't feel well. Di Resta however should be back in the car as of second free practice.

The weather for this session is good, with ambient temperatures at 27°C and the track up to 33°C. There is quite a bit of haze over the track, but it's perfectly fine for the drivers at ground level.

At the halfway mark, Nico Rosberg sets the pace, followed by some off track action after which he sets another improved lap. A few minutes later it's Vettel who moves atop of the timesheet, only to see the Mercedes driver get back ahead less than a minute further into the session.

15 minutes from the end the session is already over for Fernando Alonso. Currently on the board in 11th, the Spaniard returned to the pits with a gearbox issue that needs to be looked into. Clearly not the best start of the weekend for him as Vettel has meanwhile set the fastest time.

In the closing seconds, Mark Webber moved up to second, less than two tenths off of his teammate. Nobody else really improved at the front and all cars ended the session having only used the medium tyres.