Friday, October 31, 2014

Hamilton Fastest in FP1 from Austin

The championship leader ended first practice on top of the time sheet from Circuit of the Americas with his championship rival and teammate in tow.

Lewis Hamilton ran the fastest lap of the session at 1:39.941 seconds. The two-time United States Grand Prix winner was just under three-tenths of a second quicker than his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Jenson Button made it three Mercedes-powered cars in a row with a 1:40.319. Following the 2009 world champion was Daniil Kvyat, 0.946 seconds back of Hamilton. Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top five, a tenth back of the Russian.

Fernando Alonso was sixth with his fastest lap being a 1:41.065. Sebastian Vettel was nearly four-tenths back in seventh. Last year's winner of the United States Grand Prix will have to start from the pit lane as he will be using his sixth power unit of the season, one more than the regulations allowed to be used during a season. Williams reserve driver and currently second in GP2 championship Felipe Nasr was eighth fastest sitting in for Finn Valtteri Bottas. Nico Hülkenberg was ninth and Max Verstappen was tenth in his second appearance in a Formula One car. The 17-year old Dutch driver's fastest lap was a 1:41.785. He ran in place of Jean-Éric Vergne as he prepares to make his race debut in 2015 driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso.

Felipe Massa was eleventh with his former Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen in twelfth. Pastor Maldonado was thirteenth and the Venezuelan had a lazy spin during the session but was able to continue with no damage to the car. Adrian Sutil was fourteenth and he to had a lazy spin that he escaped with no damage.

Mexican drivers Sergio Pérez and Esteban Gutiérrez were fifteenth and sixteenth. Daniel Ricciardo only race five laps in the session after suffering ERS problem and was 2.657 seconds back of Hamilton. Last year's runner-up in the United States Grand Prix Romain Grosjean was eighteenth, 3.288 seconds behind Hamilton.

Free practice two will take place at 3:00 p.m. ET and can be seen live on NBCSN.