Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel set the pace in first
practice at the Indian Grand Prix.
Vettel headed team-mate Mark Webber by 0.188
seconds, getting his preparations for the race in which
he hopes to clinch his fourth title off to a perfect start.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was third ahead of
Lotus's Romain Grosjean.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the only other man who can
still win the title, suffered a gearbox problem.
The Spaniard ended up 12th fastest, managing just six
laps before being forced to abandon the session.
Alonso must score at least 16 points more than Vettel
this weekend to prolong the championship but will be
out of contention if the German finishes fifth or higher.
Vettel has won the last five races and the first practice
session underlined that he is a strong favourite to make
it six in a row.
Alonso said: "It is a matter of time when he will get the
championship. I am sure he will try to win the
remaining four races and he has the potential to win all
four.
"We will try to be as close to him as possible and try to
fight for the podium but I don't think Sebastian's
approach will change our race."
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was fifth quickest, ahead of
the McLarens of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez.
Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa was only ninth fastest,
just over a second off the pace, and ahead of Sauber's
Nico Hulkenberg, Williams's Valtteri Bottas and Toro
Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.
Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, who has admitted he needs to
improve his form in qualifying, was only 17th.
There were spins for Williams's Pastor Maldonado and
Force India reserve driver James Calado at the tricky
Turn Five as they came to terms with the dusty, rarely
used track surface. Calado ended the session 18th.
BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson said: "The Red
Bulls look very strong - Webber did his best time on his
15th lap, so they clearly can look after their tyres as
well."
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