Vettel quickest again in shortened final session

2013 Indian Grand Prix third practice

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Sebastian Vettel was fastest in all three practice sessions for the Indian Grand Prix for the second year in a row.

The Red Bull driver set a quickest time of 1’25.332 early in the session, then spent the remaining laps doing a longer run on the softer tyres.

The start of practice was delayed for 20 minutes as thick smog at the track was impairing visibility, meaning the medical helicopter would be unable to take off in case of an emergency. That meant the session was cut to 40 minutes.

Mark Webber made it another one-two for Red Bull, though his best time was over half a second slower than Vettel’s.

Fernando Alonso was next for Ferrari, over three-quarters of a second slower than Vettel, with Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber next.

The quickest Lotus was on fifth place, Romain Grosjean lapping a second off Vettel’s time. He made a mistake at turn eleven towards the end of the session and held up Lewis Hamilton as he returned to the track, spoiling the Mercedes driver’s run.

Paul di Resta was an encouraging seventh for Force India at their home event, the quickest Mercedes-powered runner.

During the session a Sauber driver hit one of the team’s mechanics during a pit stop. The team reported the mechanic suffered bruising in the incident.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
11Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’25.33216
22Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’25.8920.56014
33Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’26.1050.77319
411Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’26.3060.97417
58Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’26.3501.01816
64Felipe MassaFerrari1’26.4351.10320
714Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’26.4381.10615
89Nico RosbergMercedes1’26.4411.10919
95Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’26.4891.15715
1010Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’26.5571.22517
117Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’26.6351.30314
1216Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’26.6411.30913
136Sergio PerezMcLaren1’26.7371.40513
1415Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’26.8471.51517
1518Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’26.8761.54417
1617Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’26.8831.55115
1719Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’27.2591.92718
1820Charles PicCaterham-Renault1’27.9412.60918
1912Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’28.0192.68715
2021Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1’28.4983.16616
2123Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1’29.0943.76211
2222Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1’29.1693.83713

Combined practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’26.6831’25.7221’25.332-0.3975
2Mark WebberRed Bull-Renault1’26.8711’26.0111’25.892-0.11969
3Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’28.2141’26.4301’26.105-0.32564
4Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’26.9901’26.2201’26.350+0.1372
5Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’27.7701’27.4911’26.306-1.18576
6Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’27.2271’26.3991’26.557+0.15874
7Felipe MassaFerrari1’27.6921’26.6011’26.435-0.16682
8Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes1’27.6081’26.438-1.1753
9Nico RosbergMercedes1’26.8991’26.5821’26.441-0.14182
10Jenson ButtonMcLaren1’27.3351’26.9721’26.489-0.48377
11Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault1’28.7301’26.6321’26.635+0.00364
12Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault1’28.3421’27.7201’26.641-1.07957
13Sergio PerezMcLaren1’27.4161’26.8571’26.737-0.1276
14Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes1’28.4681’27.3751’26.847-0.52873
15Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Ferrari1’28.0351’28.4311’26.876-1.15972
16Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault1’27.8001’27.4291’26.883-0.54669
17Daniel RicciardoToro Rosso-Ferrari1’28.3361’27.3041’27.259-0.04553
18Charles PicCaterham-Renault1’30.0261’29.3661’27.941-1.42578
19Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’28.5381’27.9491’28.019+0.0777
20Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault1’29.4131’28.6921’28.498-0.19479
21Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth1’29.5601’28.7991’29.169+0.3765
22Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth1’30.4711’30.1641’29.094-1.0755
23James CaladoForce India-Mercedes1’29.19722

2013 Indian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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18 comments on “Vettel quickest again in shortened final session”

  1. So another 2013 race that will be dominated by these crappy tyres.

    Seems pretty clear now that Pirelli don’t want any racing in F1, They just love lap-delta driving & ridiculous tyre nursing with drivers been told to maintain the gap & not actually race, Pathetic!

    1. You want to see flat-out racing for 60 laps in a non-refueling era? Here’s a tip: it’s impossible.
      And if you want the Bridgestones back, good luck, everybody hated the racing in 2010.

      1. I never said anything about wanting to see flat-out racing for 60 laps, However the level of tyre nursing in 2013 has been utterly pathetic.

        Watching drivers driving around 3-4 seconds off the pace, been told not to get too close to the car ahead, Been told not to race the cars around them, Been told to drive to a pre-set delta time & been unable to even think about pushing is not racing, Its not fun to watch, Its not entertaining & its boring!

        As to 2010, What was wrong with the racing that year? 5 title contenders until the final races, More on-track overtaking than any season since 1989 & closer on-track racing than had been seen for a while.
        2010 was also the best rated F1 season on record in terms of TV ratings to that point so clearly a lot of people were enjoying it & it brought in more fans.

        1. (@wsrgo

          Mate, 2010 was the second best season after 2009. Now, they have ridiculous overtaking with DRS being badly placed on some circuits like SPA and Montreal. It’s ok for a driver to drive 3-4 secs off the pace for a few laps, but if it’s going to be the entire race to drive 3-4 secs off the pace, with not being able to race the car ahead, then that’s unreal. There’s got to be a time to race and a time to conserve tyres. Not just conserve tyres all the way from start to finish

          1. @krichelle They don’t conserve tyres all the time, that way you wouldn’t have fastest lap times in races now that are as fast as 2010, without the double-decked diffuser too.

        2. Overtaking isn’t everything. In terms of strategy, 2010 was largely dead as Bridgestone brought compounds that were too durable. We were lucky that Red Bull tripped up so much and that it rained in a few races, otherwise it ould have been a very boring season indeed.

          1. I don’t care about strategy, I’d rather all the focus be on the racing out on the track like it used to be in the days before refueling.

            I remember watching F1 in the 70s/80s when there were zero pit stops & zero strategy & with all the focus on the racing its no surprise that the racing was better.

            They don’t conserve tyres all the time

            But they do for most of the race & thats the problem.

            If they were only tyre nursing for 1 handful of laps then nobody would complain, Its the fact there doing it for most of the race thats got people unhappy about it this year.

            If you go back to 2011 there was a lot less tyre nursing & nobody complained, Last year it got a bit worse & there was some criticism, This year tyre nursing has been the most important factor in most races & there has been even more complaints.

        3. I suspect that because of the significant increase in the amount of team radio that we hear, this idea that strategic use of tires is due to the Pirelli’s is blown completely out of proportion.

          Also I am not sure when are drivers 3-4 seconds off the pace? Sure in some situations a driver will not put up a fight because they are on a different strategy, but that is hardly Pirelli’s fault and would be the case regardless. Also the reason drivers are told to hold a gap the car in front is because it makes no sense to sit in dirty air, if you can’t get past. That has more to do with the aero regulations than the Pirelli tires.

          1. Also I am not sure when are drivers 3-4 seconds off the pace?

            Go look at the lap charts.

            You see that for most of the race drivers are miles off the pace, Then you see the odd laptime a few seconds faster as there allowed to push for a lap or 2. Its also not uncommon to see the cars at the back lapping faster than those at the front at stages as there able to push while the lead cars are not.

            Also consider the amount of complaint from drivers relating to having to manage the tyres more in 2013.

            Martin Brundle said on sky recently that he asked all the drivers about the 2013 tyres & they all said that they all said they “Hate” how much they have to manage the tyres this season.

          2. they all said they “Hate” how much they have to manage the tyres this season.

            So let’s have Michelin back.
            Only they’ll charge more than Pirelli, and we’re all trying to save costs now. So, to hell with Michelin when it comes to spending, and yet Bernie gets very spendthrifty when it comes to converting the whole calendar into night races..

      2. I enjoyed the 2010 season very much, if you want my opinion!

  2. With both titles clinging by a whisker in favor of Vettel and Red Bull before the Indian GP, the possibility of both being clinched this week looks large. The more than 0.5s difference to the next runner/team seems to be becoming a standard now. However, it is astounding how the development of that Red Bull is going positive when everyone else behind them is trying to bridge the gap and not finding the right pieces. I predict another Vettel and Red Bull domination and hence the title being clinched by them respectively.

    Disappointed by the gap Fernando has to Vettel (0.773s). But it is slightly encouraging that he is third. And it is also encouraging to see Hulk in fourth so expecting another good weekend for him and Sauber.

  3. Sauber finally found some place, I hope the Hulk can make it another top five :-)

  4. Any chance for a God Chelem by Vettel ?

    1. @mnm101 all sessions I assume that includes? Nope, he’s come short in Q1 ;)

      1. @vettel1 Yeah I was really bummed when I saw him on primes in Q1

        1. Just assume qualifying in general!

  5. petebaldwin (@)
    26th October 2013, 8:43

    It’s no surprise to see Red Bull this far ahead. The rest have given up on 2013 whilst Red Bull are still pushing. Hopefully someone else will get in front at the start and we can at least have a little bit of excitement before it all works out for him.

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