Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest speed on the circuit during the practice session on Friday ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix 2012 to end the season on a high note. The British No. 1 driver has been great niche ever since he participated in Korean Grand Prix and the recently held Indian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, who took the racing world by storm with his 2008 Formula One title at Interlagos and arrived in Brazil post winning of the U.S. Grand Prix in Texas last Sunday, lapped the anti-clockwise layout with a best time of one minute 14.131 seconds in sunny but hazy morning conditions.
The 27-year-old, who is headed for Mercedes next season, then lapped in 1:14.026 in the heat of the afternoon.
Meanwhile, it was Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader who is favourite to secure his third successive title on Sunday, who caught the maximum attention only to time the second fastest in both sessions.
The German racing driver was just 0.009 off Hamilton's pace before lunch and 0.274 slower after the break.
However, the 25-year-old German set his morning time on this year's Pirelli tyres while Hamilton's came in a test of next year's prototype rubber.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, Vettel's only title challenger but 13 points off the lead, was fifth on both timesheets - 0.261 and 0.566 slower respectively than the fastest McLaren.
Hamilton, who gave an emotional interview to the BBC earlier in the week during which he said he is relishing every moment of the weekend.
“I just took some pictures of my engineers. I'll take some pictures of my mechanics later on today and I said we have to take a picture every day, he told reporters after practice. This is one of the best Fridays we've had for a long, long time. It's a perfect last Friday to have.
I feel very good at the moment. we're definitely strong, just as we were in the last three or four races”, said the Briton.
“But here is so tough on the tyres. I hope that we can continue to compete with them (Red Bull) tomorrow. That would be the best Saturday to have a pole, for sure.
It was quite hot today and, in terms of track conditions, not that easy”, he said.
Australian Mark Webber came third in the morning and afternoon while McLaren's Jenson Button was fourth in the first session. Alonso's Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa was fourth post lunch.
Hamilton has raced for McLaren for all of his Formula One career and could face a barren spell at Mercedes, a team that has been highly uncompetitive this year with their lone exception Nico Rosberg's win in China.
Michael Schumacher, the seven-times world champion who is to announce his retirement for the second time on Sunday to make way for Hamilton at Mercedes, was sixth in the second session ahead of Rosberg with Button eighth.
The 43-year-old German racer had a special message for his fans displayed on his helmet: Life is about passions, thank you for sharing mine.
