Fan-favorite Barrichello edges Button in practice for Brazilian Grand Prix; Alonso fastest

Barrichello edges Button in Brazilian GP practice

SAO PAULO — Home-crowd favorite Rubens Barrichello started well in his quest to keep Brawn GP teammate Jenson Button from clinching the Formula One title, finishing ahead of him during practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso had the fastest time of the day at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track with a lap of 1 minute, 12.314 seconds. He was 0.043 ahead of Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and 0.145 in front of Barrichello.

Button has a 14-point lead in the drivers’ standings and needs only a third-place finish Sunday in the season’s next-to-last race to clinch his first F1 title. He finished fifth while Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel — beside Barrichello, the only other title contender — was seventh.

“We struggled a bit on new tires this afternoon so it was hard to get a balance,” Button said. “We need to work on that overnight. We are not comfortable yet.”

The 37-year-old Barrichello will be backed by a crowd of about 70,000 Sunday. He is trying to win at home for the first time in his 17-year career.

“It’s all together, the good vibe of the people, the track, a good setup,” he said. “I just have to go flat out, that’s all, and forget about the rest.”

Both sessions were run mostly under dry conditions although light rain at times kept the drivers off the track. More rain is forecast for Saturday’s qualifying run and occasional showers are expected Sunday.

Last year, a downpour with just a few laps to go helped decide the title, which was won by Lewis Hamilton thanks to a pass on the last turn of the final lap.