Practice
There was no change in the status quo as Red Bull headed the timesheets through practice with Vettel P3-P1-P1 and Webber P4-P2-P2, with minor concerns on tyre degradation for the soft tyre. Mercedes ran them close with Hamilton taking P2-P3-P3 and Rosberg P5-P5-P5, with Lewis saying that the setup to handle the drop in temperatures of the race going from day to night would be key, and Rosberg confident that they could get good points with the right strategy. Lotus had a mixed result with Raikkonen P6-P4-P9 and Grosjean P1-P12-P4; Raikkonen, after turning up late and missing PR commitments, had some issues with understeer in the short wheelbase car and Grosjean had some brake issues that cost them running time in FP2, but generally both drivers were pleased and felt they could develop the car ahead of the race. McLaren took a step up in practice to take P10-P6-P18 with Perez and P8-P7-P6 with a more consistent Button. Perez felt comfortable with his car and that the option tyre was performing well, whilst Button felt the car was generally working well though lost some track time on Friday with sensor problems. Ferrari were less competitive than usual as Alonso was only P12-P8-P11 and Massa P17-P10-P14, with both drivers disappointed by the cars performance and unsure of what direction to take to maximise their race, even though Alonso felt the tyres were working better than India. Sauber worked through their programme on their way to P11-P9-P8 with Hulkenberg and P15-P11-P8 with Gutierrez, with both drivers pleased with the car. Hulkenberg felt there was no reason not to deliver a strong performance as his teammate felt it would be tricky to balance the setup for the temperature changes. Force India followed them up with Di Resta P7-P13-P12 and Sutil P15-P7. Rookie Calado again tried his hand in FP1 for P14. Both Calado and Sutil struggled with the medium tyre, whilst Di Resta lost time with a front brake failure, resulting in a compound change for both cars that cost them time and integrity of comparative data. Williams had a productive practice as they ran through their programmes and tested some parts towards 2014, with Maldonado P9-P14-P16 and Bottas P13-P18-P13. Maldonado felt there were some balance issues but overall good pace. Torro Rosso drivers Ricciardo and Vergne had differing views on the success of their practice, with Ricciardo struggling for balance and understanding of the car as he posted P18-P16-P15, with Vergne P16-P17-P10, feeling more confident with the car and pleased with tyre performance overall. Caterham again edged Marussia as Van der Garde ran P21-P19 after Kovalainen took the car for FP1 to finish P20 while Pic finished P19-P23-P21. Van der Garde felt he lacked high-speed stability and had some issues with rear brake locking and front-rear balance, as Pic also found the front of the car very strong and pointy, lacking the balance he was seeking. Kovalainen similarly found the car very nosey, affecting front tyre life. Marussia also ran their reserve driver Gonzalez, posting P22 in FP1 before Chilton took over for P22-P21 in the other two sessions. Bianchi was P21-P20-P22 and was pleased with some new aerodynamic and suspension parts on the car, expecting a close race though spun into a light bump with the barriers in FP3, damaging his gearbox. Chilton had problems with a broken brake duct and some balance issues.