Lewis Hamilton has recorded the fastest time in the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton came out on top of a quartet of drivers who all finished within a tenth of a second of each other.

Sebastian Vettel, who is on the verge of becoming the youngest ever three-time world champion and only the third man to win the title three times in a row, missed out to the Englishman by just 0.009 seconds.

Vettel's Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, recorded the third fastest time, finishing 0.067 seconds behind Hamilton and just ahead of Jenson Button, who ended up 0.086 seconds behind his McLaren teammate.

Fernando Alonso, the only man who can wrestle the title from Vettel's grasp, finished 0.261 seconds behind Hamilton and three tenths of a second ahead of fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Romain Grosjen (Lotus), Pastor Maldonado (Williams) and Force India duo Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg make up the top ten.