Lewis Hamilton has etched his name into the history books, topping the very first Formula One session in India.
The McLaren Mercedes driver waited until the dying moments of the session to post his fast time in the first practice session, edging out the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button was fourth had of the two Mercedes GP entries of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso had a troubled session, completing just four laps due to an engine problem.
The session went ahead smoothly at the new Buddah International Circuit, although a red flag period due to a stray dog entering the circuit halted proceedings briefly.
See below for times from Practice 1.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time/Retired | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.836 | 22 | |
| 2 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:27.416 | 0.580 | 23 |
| 3 | 2 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:27.428 | 0.592 | 27 |
| 4 | 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.394 | 1.558 | 23 |
| 5 | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:28.531 | 1.695 | 23 |
| 6 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:28.542 | 1.706 | 29 |
| 7 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:28.644 | 1.808 | 22 |
| 8 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.705 | 1.869 | 23 |
| 9 | 18 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:29.219 | 2.383 | 24 |
| 10 | 16 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:29.355 | 2.519 | 29 |
| 11 | 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:29.700 | 2.864 | 24 |
| 12 | 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:29.705 | 2.869 | 22 |
| 13 | 9 | Bruno Senna | Renault | 1:29.799 | 2.963 | 20 |
| 14 | 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:30.132 | 3.296 | 25 |
| 15 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:30.367 | 3.531 | 21 |
| 16 | 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:30.566 | 3.730 | 19 |
| 17 | 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1:30.669 | 3.833 | 22 |
| 18 | 21 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1:30.818 | 3.982 | 22 |
| 19 | 20 | Karun Chandhok | Lotus-Renault | 1:32.487 | 5.651 | 24 |
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:32.771 | 5.935 | 24 |
| 21 | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1:33.928 | 7.092 | 27 |
| 22 | 22 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 1:34.113 | 7.277 | 30 |
| 23 | 25 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:35.796 | 8.960 | 19 |
| 24 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:35.899 | 9.063 | 4 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s F1 Race Guide
