AUSTIN, TEXAS (AP) - Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest lap in the first practice session at the U.S. Grand Prix, finishing in 1 minute, 38.125 seconds on the new Circuit of the Americas track.
Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was second with 1:39.543 and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was third at 1:40.337. Friday’s practice runs were the first time any of the drivers had driven on the new $400 million track.
Vettel leads Alonso by 10 points with two races left on the schedule and is trying to become just the third driver to win three in a row.
Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner said the course was very close to what the drivers practiced on their simulators and it didn’t produce any surprises the first time around.
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