Vettel happy with Friday's work but long-run pace offers encouragement for Alonso

Red Bull have expressed their satisfaction with their performance in the opening salvoes of the Brazilian GP weekend, but it appears as if all is far from lost for the title-chasing Fernando Alonso.

However, Alonso can never be written off - especially if the predictions of heavy rain on Sunday prove prescient - and the Ferrari driver's pace during his race-simulation at the close of Practice Two offered more than a glimmer of hope. "The second session was far more relevant because in the first a lot of teams were using the 2013 tyres. But what I was impressed with was Alonso's run at the end on the hard tyres and I was impressed with Massa's run on the mediums - both of those guys were quick," commented Sky Sports F1 analyst Allan McNish. "And what surprised me is that Vettel and Webber didn't look as good. Their lap times weren't as quick and the car didn't look very stable. And the fastest driver was clearly Hamilton."