Sebastian Vettel believes dust will be the story of the weekend in India, although he is optimistic things will be better by race day.
The Buddh circuit, which is making its debut on the calendar this weekend, was extremely dusty during the opening practice sessions on Friday. Vettel admitted the situation was very tricky, especially if a driver goes off the racing line.
"It is very dusty to start with, but the track layout seems fun, especially the wide entries," said Vettel. "It is tricky because it is so dusty off line in particular. It is very tricky and if a car in front comes off and comes back he carries all the sand off the line, so it is not easy. It will be the story of the weekend, so we have to make sure we stay on the line. We have to live with it but I think it will improve throughout the weekend so it should not be a big big problem in the race."
The German, who posted the second fastest time of the day, admitted he was pleased with his day's work.
"It is Friday. It doesn't really matter to top the ranking but all in all we can be happy. The car felt good straight from this morning and it was about to get into the rhythm of the circuit, get to know the car around here and that seemed to work quite well.
"The long run seemed good, it is still early – the circuit is quite challenging; quick, tricky so it doesn't forgive a lot of mistake so we have to be very focused tomorrow."
Teammate Mark Webber was fifth fastest, the Australian saying things had been smoother for him in the morning.
"This morning was good, but this afternoon she was a different girl and not really talking to me that well, so we will get it back tomorrow."