With only the medium tyres used in the session, with the option this weekend
being the far quicker supersoft compound, Vettel came close to knocking
Hamilton off top spot at the death.
The 26-year-old German, however, had to content himself with the second
quickest time, finishing 0.037secs adrift in his Red Bull.
Team-mate Mark Webber was fractionally off the pace of the lead duo, with the
Australian 0.186secs down, followed by Rosberg who was half a second behind
in his Mercedes.
As for the rest of the field, it was McLaren’s Jenson Button leading the way
with one of his best practice showings of the year as he was 0.585secs
behind his former team-mate.
As for Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the only realistic challenger to Vettel with
a 60-point gap between the duo, the Spaniard finished sixth quickest and
0.744secs down.
Lotus’ Romain Grosjean was the only other driver within a second of Hamilton,
with team-mate Raikkonen eighth fastest, but 1.047secs off the pace.
The Finn, however, left his mechanics facing a difficult lunch break after
losing control of his car heading into the final turn at the top of the
start-finish straight.
Sliding sideways under full lock, Raikkonen slammed into a tyre barrier,
causing considerable damage.
The 33-year-old, who has been struggling with a back problem of late that
almost forced him out of the Singapore Grand Prix, is likely to have
compounded that particular issue.
McLaren’s Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa in his Ferrari completed the top 10,
the latter 1.250secs down.
James Calado, enjoying another reserve outing for Force India in place of Paul
Di Resta, was down in 18th and 3.378secs adrift, with team-mate Adrian Sutil
1.5secs quicker.
Marussia’s Max Chilton was 21st and 4.470secs behind Hamilton.
First practice times:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1min 39.630secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:39.667
3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:39.816
4 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 1:40.117
5 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:40.215
6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:40.374
7 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus 1:40.396
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus 1:40.667
9 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 1:40.860
10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:40.880
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber 1:40.899
12 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:41.432
13 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:41.482
14 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber 1:41.626
15 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso 1:41.924
16 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:42.002
17 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso 1:42.043
18 James Calado (Gbr) Force India 1:43.008
19 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham 1:43.660
20 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham 1:43.883
21 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:44.100
22 Rodolfo Gonzalez (Ven) Marussia 1:46.810
(Edited by Giles Mole)