SAO PAULO — Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first day of practice for the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix Friday, while Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel was second and title challenger Fernando Alonso was fifth. Hamilton, in his last race with McLaren, had a lap of 1 minute, 14.026 seconds in the second practice session at Interlagos, .274 quicker than Vettel's Red Bull. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber was third in 1:14.523 and Alonso's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa was fourth in 1:14.553. Alonso clocked 1:14.592 in his afternoon run. Vettel has a 13-point lead over Alonso and needs to finish fourth or better to become F1's youngest three-time champion at age 25. He can also be the first to win three in a row since Michael Schumacher, who won five consecutive from 2000-2004. Gutierrez to join Sauber, Pic at Caterham Mexican Esteban Gutierrez will be promoted to Sauber's second race driver next season as Marussia's Charles Pic of France switches to Caterham, both stables announced Friday. Gutierrez, 21, moves up from the reserve team and will replace Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi beside Germany's Nico Hulkenberg, recruited from Force India to replace another Mexican, Sergio Perez, who joins McLaren in 2013. Gutierrez, who signed for the Swiss team as a reserve driver in 2010, has never raced in F1 and finished third in the GP2 championship last season, with three wins. “We are in no doubt we have a strong driver pairing in place for the 2013 season with Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez,” Sauber Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn said. Gutierrez added: “It will be a great pleasure to be racing in the same team as an experienced driver like Nico Hulkenberg. He will be a good reference point for me and will push me to adapt quickly to F1 competition so we can develop the car together with the team in the best way.” Dutch driver Robin Frijns, 21, has been taken on board as Sauber's Test and reserve driver. Pic, meanwhile, will move to Caterham after signing a long-term deal with the British outfit. Both of Caterham's current drivers Finn Heikki Kovalainen and Russian Vitaly Petrov face uncertain futures. Kovalainen admitted Thursday that he feared he would be out of F1 next season. — Agencies
