Rosberg heads Hamilton in first Brazilian GP practice
Nico Rosberg was fastest in the morning practice ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, edging out his team mate and Championship leader Lewis Hamilton. Daniil Kvyat was an impressive third, ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari.
Max Verstappen was also quickly on the pace in his third free practice outing, posting the 6th fastest time. He was two tenths ahead of Pastor Maldonado who scored his first point of the season last weekend and again appears to be on form in the improved Lotus.
Jenson Button surely was less happy, having not managed to complete a single lap. His car came to a halt in the pitlane after doing an installation lap. The electrical problems found on his McLaren forced him to remain in the pits for the entire session. Esteban Gutierrez was similarly hampered by technical issues while Daniel Juncadella caused the only red flag of the session, going off track in Sergio Pérez' Force India.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:12.764 | - | 30 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:12.985 | 0.221 | 32 |
| 3 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Str-Renault | 1:13.723 | 0.959 | 39 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:13.742 | 0.978 | 30 |
| 5 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:13.811 | 1.047 | 28 |
| 6 | 38 | Max Verstappen | Str-Renault | 1:13.827 | 1.063 | 26 |
| 7 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1:14.034 | 1.270 | 31 |
| 8 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:14.114 | 1.350 | 32 |
| 9 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:14.136 | 1.372 | 30 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:14.197 | 1.433 | 27 |
| 11 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:14.434 | 1.670 | 31 |
| 12 | 40 | Felipe Nasr | Williams-Mercedes | 1:14.522 | 1.758 | 22 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:14.678 | 1.914 | 33 |
| 14 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:14.902 | 2.138 | 24 |
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:15.109 | 2.345 | 23 |
| 16 | 34 | Daniel Juncadella | Force India-Mercedes | 1:16.030 | 3.266 | 17 |
| 17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | No time | - | 1 |
| 18 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | No time | - | 6 |
