Hamilton penalised en route to leading India first practice

Hamilton set the fastest time in first practice

Lewis Hamilton headed the first ever official practice session for the Indian Grand Prix – but suffered a grid penalty in the process.

Hamilton set a flying lap at the very end of the session, putting him half a second ahead of anyone else, but sped through Turn 16 under double-waved yellows, resulting in a penalty from the stewards.

Lewis will be dropped 3 places on the grid, with Sergio Perez receiving the same penalty for the same action.

The red flag was out within minutes of the session beginning, as a stray dog wandered onto the track. Once the session restarted, Karun Chandhok (who will only participate in Practice 1) and Narain Karthikeyan led proceedings.

Pastor Maldonado's stray Williams soon caught out Hamilton and Perez

Fernando Alonso was out of the session early, with the Ferrari losing power. Felipe Massa was handed the Spaniard’s new front wing, which has since caused controversy, as it has been seen vibrating and showering sparks through Turn 4.

Pastor Maldonado pulled over near the end of the session, causing double-waved yellows, which consequently caused Hamilton and Perez’s penalties.

The Red Bulls were 2nd and 3rd, over half a second behind Hamilton. Jenson Button was a further second behind Vettel and Webber, with Michael Schumacher 5th.

Indian drivers Chandhok and Karthikeyan were 19th and 22nd in their respective Lotus and HRT cars.

Times from Friday practice 1:

01.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1:26.836    	     22
02.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1:27.416   0.580   23
03.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1:27.428   0.592   27
04.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:28.394   1.558   23
05.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1:28.531   1.695   23
06.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1:28.542   1.706   29
07.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1:28.644   1.808   22
08.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:28.705   1.869   23
09.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:29.219   2.383   24
10.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1:29.355   2.519   29
11.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1:29.700   2.864   24
12.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                1:29.705   2.869   22
13.  Bruno Senna           Renault                1:29.799   2.963   20
14.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1:30.132   3.296   25
15.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:30.367   3.531   21
16.  Jaime Alguersuari     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:30.566   3.730   19
17.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth      1:30.699   3.833   22
18.  Jarno Trulli          Lotus-Renault          1:30.818   3.982   22
19.  Karun Chandhok        Lotus-Renault          1:32.487   5.651   24
20.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth           1:32.771   5.935   24
21.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1:33.928   7.092   27
22.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1:34.113   7.277   30
23.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth        1:35.896   8.960   19
24.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1:35.899   9.063    4