- Brazilian Grand Prix - FP1
Rosberg and Mercedes fastest in wet first practice session
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton topped a wet first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, although the conditions meant the timing of the lap during the 90 minute session counted for more than ultimate pace.
Rosberg's lap was clocked roughly 30 minutes into the session on intermediate tyres, just before another band of rain crossed the circuit. Nobody suffered a chassis-splintering accident, but several drivers found themselves facing the wrong way, including Hamilton, whose Mercedes pitched him into a slow spin at Turn 3 after just 20 minutes.
Vettel was third fastest and the only driver to attempt a slick tyre run. Although the show of bravery was not in the pursuit of a faster lap, but in order to gather data with a substantial piece of aero rigging behind the rear wing. He completed runs on both the 2013 hard tyres and the 2014 development tyres in order to give Red Bull an idea of the changes ahead of next year, but the run on the 2014 tyres lasted just one lap before heavier rain set in and he returned to the pits for intermediates.
Jenson Button was fourth fastest despite struggling to get heat into his Pirelli intermediates on track. He was 0.8s off Rosberg, 0.2s faster than Fernando Alonso in fifth and 0.4s quicker than Webber in sixth. The second McLaren of Sergio Perez was seventh ahead of Daniil Kvyat, who once again stood in at Toro Rosso ahead of his promotion to the race team next year.
Heikki Kovalainen was ninth fastest as he got his second weekend at Lotus underway, completing 31 laps - the most of any driver - without any major dramas. Nico Hulkenberg was tenth fastest for Sauber ahead of Felipe Massa, who was limited to just 15 laps.
James Calado was standing in for Paul di Resta at Force India but only managed nine laps. He set the 18th fastest time, but for what it's worth with conditions changing throughout the session, was just 0.3s off Force India race driver Adrian Sutil.
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