2013 Indian Grand Prix

Lore & Background

The Grand Prix was contested by eleven teams, each of two drivers. The teams, also known as "constructors", were Red Bull-Renault, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes, Sauber-Ferrari, Force India-Mercedes, Williams-Renault, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, Caterham-Renault and Marussia-Cosworth. Before the race, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel led the Drivers' Championship with 297 points; Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was second on 207 points.

A maximum of 100 points were available in the remaining four races, which meant Alonso could still win the title. Vettel only needed a fifth place or higher to become Drivers' Champion, even if Alonso won. Behind Vettel and Alonso in the Drivers' Championship, Kimi Räikkönen was third with 177 points in a Lotus, with Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber on 161 and 148 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull were leading on 445 points and Ferrari were second on 297 points, with Mercedes third on 287 points.

In the week leading up to the race, the organisers of the race, Jaypee Sports International attended a court hearing on a dispute over unpaid entertainment taxes from the previous running of the Grand Prix. A court official confirmed, the case would be heard the week after the race, thereby ending speculation that the Grand Prix would be cancelled. On 21 October, four days before the event's first free practice sessions took place, Toro Rosso confirmed the team was signing GP3 Series driver Daniil Kvyat for the 2014 season, partnering Jean-Éric Vergne.

The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race; one was on the straight between turns 3 and 4, and the second was on the start/finish straight from the final to first corners. The sport's sole tyre supplier Pirelli, provided two specifications of slick compound tyres for the race, designated Medium (also referred to as the "prime" tyre) and Soft (also referred to as the "option" tyre). The Medium compound was distinguished by a white-band with the Soft compound being distinguished by a yellow-band.

As was the case for all the 2013 Grands Prix, the rules stipulated that all cars should use both types of tyre during the course of the race, and each driver was limited to eleven sets of dry tyres for the weekend.

Reader's Guide

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday from 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 15:30 local time, and a third on Saturday morning between 11:00 to 12:00. The first practice session took place in dry conditions with an ambient temperature of 30 C and a track temperature of 32 C. Vettel set the session's fastest time with a lap of 1 minute and 26.683, almost two-tenths of a second faster than teammate Webber. The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg set the third fastest time ahead of Renault driver Romain Grosjean who was fourth fastest.

Hamilton set the fifth fastest time in his Mercedes. The two McLaren drivers were sixth and seventh, Jenson Button ahead of Sergio Pérez. Felipe Massa and Nico Hülkenberg set the eighth and ninth fastest lap times respectively for Ferrari and Sauber. Valtteri Bottas in the Williams completed the top ten.

Alonso's Ferrari car was afflicted by a gearbox problem; this restricted him to completing only six timed laps, and he was 12th overall. The second practice session was held in similar weather to the first; the only difference was a slightly higher peak track temperature of 40 C. During this session, Vettel set the fastest lap of the day, a 1:25.722; Webber finished with the second-fastest time. Grosjean ended up with the third fastest time. The Mercedes drivers were again quick—Hamilton in fourth and Rosberg sixth.

They were split by Alonso; with teammate Massa in seventh. Räikkonen set the eighth fastest time. The McLaren drivers ran slower— Button in ninth and Pérez tenth. Williams driver Pastor Maldonado suffered from a loose wheel nut which deflated his right-front tyre, as a result of an earlier pitstop.

Williams were fined €60,000. Saturday's weather was again dry for third and final practice session, with an ambient temperature of 28 C and a track temperature of 35 C. The start of session was delayed by 20 minutes as the medical helicopter was unable to take off, due to poor visibility caused by smog. The Red Bull drivers were again quickest—Vettel setting the fastest time, a 1:25.332, over half a second faster than Webber. Alonso was able to improve his pace and set the third-fastest time.

Hamilton and Rosberg set the eighth and tenth fastest times respectively; they were separated by Button. Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts.