Vettel fastest in first practice

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel headed McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in first practice at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. At F1's first foray into America for five years, the title leader left it late to set a lap nearly a second and a half quicker than Hamilton. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Vettel's rival for the title, was third fastest. McLaren's Jenson Button ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber and Ferrari's Felipe Massa filled out the top six. For mu of the session at the new Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton and Alonso traded fastest times as Vettel worked away at learning the track and setting up his car. But the German came alive in the closing minutes of the session, first beating Hamilton's time by 0.792 seconds and then lowering his mark again to one minute 28.125 seconds - a massive 1.418secs faster than Hamilton. That caused a sharp intake of breath and underlined exactly why Vettel is a strong favourite for the championship. The 25-year-old German is 10 points ahead of Alonso heading into the penultimate race of the season, with the finale in Brazil next weekend. Vettel has won four of the last five races following a major upgrade to the Red Bull car at the end of September, and in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago was third after starting from the pit lane.