AUSTIN, TEXAS: Sebastian Vettel, chasing his third consecutive world title, topped the times for Red Bull in yesterday’s opening free practice session for this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old German, who needs to outscore nearest rival Fernando Alonso by 15 points to become Formula One’s youngest triple champion, produced his customary blistering pace in his first run at the brand new Circuit of the Americas 25 km out of downtown Austin.
In his 100th Grand Prix event, Vettel looked ominously quick as he clocked a best time of one minute and 38.125 seconds around the 5.516-km track to wind up top of the time screens ahead of Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by more than 1.4 seconds.
Title rival Alonso of Ferrari was third fastest, a further 0.8 seconds adrift, ahead of Jenson Button in the second McLaren, Mark Webber in the second Red Bull and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari.
If it did little else, the opening session proved that Vettel and Red Bull will have few problems adapting to the demands of the circuit and that the usual suspects — Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari — will be the teams to beat.
Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix two weekends ago, was first out on to the ‘green’ circuit on a morning of many minor incidents as the drivers learned their way round the spectacular sweeping track.
German Nico Hulkenberg of Force India was the first driver to enjoy a major spin, but most of the field endured a variety of unscheduled excursions off the ashphalt, notably at Turn 19 where Hamilton, Vettel and Massa all slithered wide as they under-estimated the fast left-hand corner.
Hamilton looked likely to be the session-topper until, with only three minutes to go, Vettel blitzed to his fastest lap and left his rivals with little chance to respond.
Hulkenberg ended up seventh fastest ahead of Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber, Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and Sergio Perez of Sauber.
The $400 million Circuit of the Americas stepped into the spotlight as Formula One’s best surveyed the track that could crown a driver’s champion and breathe life into a sport largely ignored in the United States.
The eyes of the motor racing world will be focused on Texas this weekend as Formula One returns to the US after a five-year hiatus with the Circuit of the America’s providing a spectacular stage for what could be a dramatic finish to the season and the start of a new era for the glamor series in a market it is determined to conquer.
Unfamiliar ground to every driver, the undulating 5.516km (3.4 mile) circuit carved out of the south Texas scrublands will provide a level playing as Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel tries to fend off a challenge from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and clinch a third consecutive driver’s championship.
Unable to find a suitable long-term venue, Formula One has barnstormed its way around the US with Austin becoming the 10th city to host a race after Sebring (Florida), Riverside (California), Watkins Glen (New York), Phoenix (Arizona), Dallas (Texas), Detroit (Michigan), Las Vegas (Nevada), Long Beach (California) and Indianapolis (Indiana).
But even before one of the sleek cars had turned a wheel on the track, Formula One’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone gave the circuit two thumbs up, hopeful that the long search for a permanent US home had finally come to an end.
“It looks very much like a permanent circuit and I hope it remains permanent as far as Formula One goes,” praised Ecclestone. “We have a contract and we would be happy to stay here.
“It’s absolutely first class. All things we wanted to get done have been done.
“We’ve taken the good bits from all the different circuits and tried to put them together. It should make good racing.” Until Thursday, most drivers’ view of the circuit had come in simulators used to help familiarize them to the 20 turn layout.