Vettel tops first Indian GP practice

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber held off the Mercedes and Lotus challenge to give Red Bull a one-two in opening practice for the Indian Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg ensured that Vettel did not have things all his own way during the mid-session short runs when most of the quick laps were set. Rosberg did a 1m27.937s then a 1m27.217s in quick succession to remove the McLarens from their early position on top.

Vettel then beat his compatriot by 0.021 second, but within a minute Rosberg went quicker again and produced a 1m26.899s on the 10th lap of his run.

After a slower lap, Vettel got back up to speed again with a 1m26.683s that would keep him ahead for the rest of the morning. Webber then put his Red Bull between the two Germans in the closing minutes.

Romain Grosjean was fourth for Lotus, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen never attempted a lower-fuel run and was 1.7sec slower in 17th.

Lewis Hamilton had also languished in the midfield for much of the session, before jumping to fifth late in the session, just ahead of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez's McLarens.

It was a tough start for Ferrari, with Felipe Massa eighth and Fernando Alonso sidelined by a gearbox problem after six laps.

Williams got itself into the top 10 with Valtteri Bottas just behind Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in 10th. Bottas's teammate Pastor Maldonado also had a spell in the top half of the field, though he also had a spin.

James Calado was the session's other spinner, as he stood in for the ill Paul di Resta at Force India.