Vettel on top at USGP first practice

Sebastian Vettel at COTA turn 18 by Jamey Price

Lots of slipping and sliding in the first ever practice session at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The session concluded with Vettel putting in a flyer at 1:28.125

Practice 2 will see teams working on long runs so race pace laps should be in the very low 1:40 with full tanks. Quali simulations on softer tires should see the times drop in the 1:37 and possibly below.

Pos  Driver              Team                   Time                 Laps
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       1m38.125              30
 2.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes       1m39.543s  + 1.418s   28
 3.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                1m40.337s  + 2.212s   29
 4.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.528s  + 2.403s   29
 5.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1m40.650s  + 2.525s   30
 6.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                1m40.966s  + 2.841s   26
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes   1m41.023s  + 2.898s   29
 8.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.036s  + 2.911s   28
 9.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               1m41.159s  + 3.034s   32
10.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.473s  + 3.348s   29
11.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   1m41.783s  + 3.658s   29
12.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.825s  + 3.700s   28
13.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.833s  + 3.708s   29
14.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault          1m41.880s  + 3.755s   23
15.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault          1m41.998s  + 3.873s   27
16.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault       1m42.539s  + 4.414s   30
17.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes               1m42.588s  + 4.463s   25
18.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth      1m43.288s  + 5.163s   23
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault       1m43.443s  + 5.318s   28
20.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault       1m43.522s  + 5.397s   23
21.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth      1m44.464s  + 6.339s   24
22.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault       1m44.548s  + 6.423s   29
23.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth           1m46.917s  + 8.792s   13
24.  Ma Qing Hua         HRT-Cosworth           1m48.559s  + 10.434s  19