Lewis Hamilton blazes at Brazilian Grand Prix practice

• Lewis Hamilton had the fastest first day of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday.
• Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel came in second on the day.
• Hamilton said he was confident in his pace and ability to beat Vettel.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the first day of practice for the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday, while Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel was second and title challenger Fernando Alonso 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.

"We are definitely strong," said Hamilton, coming off a victoryat the United States GP. "Our single-lap pace was pretty good. Sebastian had several attempts and it didn't look like that he could really match the time,so that's a positive for us."

Vettel's teammate, Mark Webber, was third in 1:14.523. Alonsoclocked 1:14.592 in his afternoon run, just behind Ferrari teammate andhome-crowd favorite Felipe Massa.

Vettel has a 13-point lead over Alonso and needs to finishfourth or better to become F1's youngest three-time champion at age 25.

He can also be the first to win three titles in a row sinceMichael Schumacher, who won five consecutive from 2000-04. The only otherdriver to achieve at least three straight was Juan Manuel Fangio from 1954-57.

It was a hot and sunny day, but rain was expected for Saturday'squalifying and Sunday's race in Sao Paulo.

"It's unknown what's going to come, but so far we can be happywith the improvement of the car," Vettel said.

Drivers from McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari dominated the firstsession, but Mercedes improved in the second with Schumacher in sixth place andNico Rosberg seventh.

Hamilton just barely avoided a collision near the end of thefirst practice after a Marussia car spun in front of him.

Kimi Raikkonen ran wide at Turn 1 with his Lotus early in thesecond session, becoming the first driver to test the expanded runoff areaadded by local organizers at the end of the main straight.

Kamui Kobayashi, preparing for probably his last race withSauber after the team announced that 21-year-old Mexican Esteban Gutierrezwould be Nico Hulkenberg's teammate next season, was 15th fastest in his secondrun.

HRT, possibly ending its spell in F1 because of financialdifficulties, finished near the bottom of the timings with Pedro de la Rosa andNarain Karthikeyan.

Teams were given two sets of the prototype Pirelli tires thatwill be used next year, allowing them to have an idea of what to expect intheir 2013 cars.

Drivers used the new tires during most of the morning sessionand in part of the second, with Hamilton complaining of overheating at times,while Sauber's Sergio Perez — who will be replacing the British driver atMcLaren in 2013 — said the new sets had more mid-corner grip.

Red Bull has won the last three races in Brazil and Vettelfinished second last year at Interlagos. The German driver has finished fourthor better in the last six races this year, and two-time champion Alonso hasn'twon since the German GP in July.

In addition to crowning the champion, this year's Brazilian GPalso marks the end of Schumacher's career for the second time. F1's mostsuccessful driver, Schumacher retired with Ferrari in 2006 and returned withMercedes in 2010, unable to be competitive and managing only one podium finish,this year.

It will be the sixth time since 2005 that the F1 season will be decided at the Brazilian GP. Alonso won both of his titles at Interlagos in 2005 and '06.