Hamilton tops FP1 at Interlagos

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap time in the first Free practice before Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.

As it was expected, Mercedes pair was much faster than the rest of the pack. Lewis Hamilton had best lap time after first 30 minutes at redesigned Interlagos – 1:14.451 what was just 0.021s better than time of his teammate. Sebastian Vettel drove third best lap in that part of the session, but he was 0.6s behind champion. Interestignly only five drivers were within a second after half an hour.

Both Williams cars struggled, with Massa Bottas constantly complained on lack of grip, McLaren looked a bit better than during most of the previous Grands Prix, while Lotus reserve driver Jolyon Palmer, who get a chance instead of Romain Grosjean, couldn’t do anything significant, so just two Manors were behind him, after opening 30 minutes, but later improved a lot.

Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen were the first to challenge Mercedes’, but they still were short 0.1s and 0.5s respectively. But, Vettel was the one managed to beat Hamilton and Rosberg with a lap time 1:14,233. Ferrari driver wasn’t too long on top as Rosberg beat that result with 1:14.090.

Hamilton opened last 30 minutes with a new best lap time – 1:13.543. That was more than enough to keep him on top until the end of the session. Rosberg was second. more than 0.5s behind, while Vettel was third with a gap of 0.625s. Some 10 minutes before the end. Raikkonen had a huge spin and slid out of the track, but he was unhurt and his Ferrari wasn’t damaged too much.