São Paulo
Race Date:24 Nov 2013
Circuit Name:Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
First Grand Prix:1973
Number of Laps:71
Circuit Length:4.309 km
Race Distance:305.909 km
Lap Record:1:11.473 - JP Montoya (2004)
Practice One - Rosberg leads Mercedes one-two in rainy Brazil
The rain that was expected today arrived early, in time to leave the track wet for the entire 90 minutes of opening practice at Interlagos. And after Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had set the initial pace for Mercedes, further rain prevented anyone from going quicker, though an improvement in conditions in the final 20 minutes enabled Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to jump ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button for third.
Rosberg set the pace with 1m 24.781s, using Pirelli’s intermediate tyres like almost everyone else, though Vettel briefly tried the hards and then did one lap on the prototype 2014 hard tyres before the rain worsened and he reverted to inters. His Red Bull was equipped with a lot of monitoring equipment, hence the attempt at a comparison.
Rosberg was the only driver to dip beneath 1m 25s, whilst Hamilton, who spun in Turn 3 on his first attempt to go fast, worked down to 1m 25.230s for second. Vettel, meanwhile, improved to 1m 25.387s to pip Button’s earlier 1m 25.391s.
Fernando Alonso was fifth for Ferrari on 1m 25.593s, while Mark Webber didn’t run for some time but worked down to 1m 25.797s which left him just ahead of Sergio Perez on 1m 25.946s in the other McLaren.
The revelation of the session, once again, was Toro Rosso’s 2014 signing Daniil Kvyat who looked totally at home in the tricky conditions and didn’t put a wheel wrong as he worked down to 1m 26.064s. That left the young Russian rookie ahead of Heikki Kovalainen in the leading Lotus (1m 26.133s), Nico Hulkenberg in the leading Sauber (1m 26.232s), Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari (1m 26.248s), Esteban Gutierrez in the second Sauber (1m 26.326s) and Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus (1m 26.570s). Kvyat’s team mate Jean-Eric Vergne was a half second adrift on 1m 26.593s, despite running at the same time.
Adrian Sutil was Force India’s leader in 15th place on 1m 27.115s, but Paul di Resta stand-in James Calado again impressed with 1m 27.436s, despite not running very much. That left him 18th, separated from the German by the Williamses of Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado on 1m 27.269s and 1m 27.358s respectively.
Behind Calado, Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic’s Caterhams - on 1m 28.107s and 1m 28.199s - headed the Marussias of Jules Bianchi and Rodolfo Gonzalez on 1m 30.004s and 1m 32.646s.
1N. RosbergMercedes GP1:24.78114
2L. HamiltonMercedes GP1:25.230 0.44913
3S. VettelRed Bull1:25.387 0.60617
4J. ButtonMcLaren1:25.391 0.61025
5F. AlonsoFerrari1:25.593 0.81213
6M. WebberRed Bull1:25.797 1.01617
7S. PerezMcLaren1:25.946 1.16515
8D. KwiatToro Rosso1:26.064 1.28317
9H. KovalainenLotus1:26.133 1.35231
10N. HulkenbergSauber1:26.232 1.45117
11F. MassaFerrari1:26.248 1.46715
12E. GutierrezSauber1:26.326 1.54528
13R. GrosjeanLotus1:26.570 1.78928
14J. VergneToro Rosso1:26.593 1.81222
15A. SutilForce India1:27.115 2.33425
16V. BottasWilliams F11:27.269 2.48823
17P. MaldonadoWilliams F11:27.358 2.57723
18J. Calado1:27.4362.6559
19G. van der GardeCaterham1:28.107 3.32618
20C. PicCaterham1:28.199 3.41817
21J. BianchiMarussia1:30.004 5.22324
22R. GonzalezMarussia1:32.646 7.86519
Practice Two - Rosberg quickest again in rain-hit session in Brazil
After topping the times in Friday morning's wet first practice session, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was quickest again in FP2 as the rain continued to fall in Sao Paulo in the afternoon.
The German set the pace early on when initially the track was sodden enough for Pirelli's full wet tyres and then regained the initiative on intermediates after the late-to-run Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had temporarily displaced him.
Rosberg ended the session with a lap of 1m 27.306s, which was sufficient to dislodge Vettel's 1m 27.531s. Meantime, Webber got very close to his team mate with 1m 27.592s, despite at one stage being informed that he'd suffered a KERS failure.
The trio were far ahead of their rivals, who were led by an impressive Heikki Kovalainen in the lead Lotus on 1m 28.129s and Lewis Hamilton, who spun again as he had this morning before recording 1m 28.147s in the second Mercedes.
Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne had a better session, taking sixth place with 1m 28.405s ahead of lead Ferrari driver Felipe Massa on 1m 28.540s. Right behind the Brazilian was Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 28.560s for Sauber, Daniel Ricciardo on 1m 28.739s in the second Toro Rosso, Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus on 1m 28.891s and Fernando Alonso in the second Ferrari on 1m 28.928s.
Esteban Gutierrez - who was the only driver to use just the full wet tyres - had been up with team mate Hulkenberg until the final stages, when he slipped down to 12th in the other Sauber on 1m 29.049s, which left him ahead of Force India's Paul di Resta on 1m 29.174s, Williams' Pastor Maldonado on 1m 29.717s, the other Force India of Adrian Sutil on 1m 29.783s, Maldonado's partner Valtteri Bottas on 1m 30.425s and Sergio Perez on 1m 30.748s for McLaren.
A great lap early on from Jules Bianchi put his Marussia ahead of the Caterhams, with 1m 31.061s to Giedo van der Garde's 1m 31.118s and Charles Pic's 1m 31.165s, while Bianchi's partner Max Chilton was close behind them on 1m 31.211s. At the back, Jenson Button posted a 1m 31.770s lap in his McLaren having completed just 6 laps - the fewest of any driver.
Altogether the weather made it a slightly inconclusive day, but if the weather remains unsettled on Saturday, as predicted, then we are set for a thrilling qualifying session.
1N. RosbergMercedes GP1:27.30612
2S. VettelRed Bull1:27.531 0.22510
3M. WebberRed Bull1:27.592 0.28618
4H. KovalainenLotus1:28.129 0.82313
5L. HamiltonMercedes GP1:28.147 0.8419
6J. VergneToro Rosso1:28.405 1.09911
7F. MassaFerrari1:28.540 1.2349
8N. HulkenbergSauber1:28.560 1.25420
9D. RicciardoToro Rosso1:28.739 1.43320
10R. GrosjeanLotus1:28.891 1.58512
11F. AlonsoFerrari1:28.928 1.62210
12E. GutierrezSauber1:29.049 1.74317
13P. di RestaForce India1:29.174 1.86811
14P. MaldonadoWilliams F11:29.717 2.41113
15A. SutilForce India1:29.783 2.4777
16V. BottasWilliams F11:30.425 3.11915
17S. PerezMcLaren1:30.748 3.4428
18J. BianchiMarussia1:31.061 3.75518
19G. van der GardeCaterham1:31.118 3.81216
20C. PicCaterham1:31.165 3.85915
21M. ChiltonMarussia1:31.211 3.90519
22J. ButtonMcLaren1:31.770 4.4646
