The final practice session of the Korean Grand Prix (Part 4)
With just 30 minutes remaining in the final session, the top 3 teams had yet to test the track and it seemed that they were waiting for the conditions of the track to get better.
Alonso and Massa finally decided to break the habit and headed out for a first run on hard tyres while Adrian Sutil was in fourth place in the classification but he could have challenged Buemi’s early benchmark if he avoided the stumble across Senna’s HRT.
The McLaren pair did not want to stay behind so they were also rolling out of the pits for their first timed run. Kobayashi took fifth place with a 1m42.724s lap while Mark Webber exited the pits and was the first of the Red Bull drivers to move on to the
track. Rosberg, Schumacher and Vettel all three began their first serious run of laps in the session.
Alonso finally took Buemi off the top as he scored a 1m40.795s flying lap. Webber entered the second sector on his lap out of the pits. He was the fastest driver in the second practice session on Friday with the fastest lap of 1m37.942s.
Webber crossed the line to begin his first timed lap of the day as Vettel rolled out of the pits. Massa joined the timesheet as the fourth quickest driver while Hamilton took the ninth place on his first effort. Rubens Barrichello slotted into eighth place
after the completion of his first effort while Nico Hulkenberg exited the Williams garage as he began his second run of the day. He was in third place in the classification by the 36 minute marker.
Mark Webber’s first effort placed him in sixth place with a lap of 1m41.598s while Button became the fastest man through the first sector where the McLarens were expected to be the strongest team. Button took the top spot by a thousandth of a second from
Alonso. Vettel was now on his first timed lap of the session as the Red Bull show entertained the crowd.
Alonso had just begun as he improved the benchmark to a 1m39.942s. Michael Schumacher also left the Mercedes garage with less than 23 minutes remaining in the final practice session. He still had to test both types of tyres so he did not have much time left.
Mark Webber improved to fourth position with a lap of 1m40.695s as he crossed the line while Sebastian Vettel completed his first timed lap of the session and slotted into 11th place with a time of 1m41.896s.
Alonso continued a strong run to take back the benchmark with a 1m39.217s. Fernando led the pack with over 20 minutes remaining in the session while Hamilton, Massa, Webber, Button were in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th
places respectively.
Mark Webber scored a good lap and came up to second position with a lap of 1m39.589s as the order at the front continued to fluctuate. Vettel completed his second timed lap and posted a 1m40.092s lap to move up to fifth place. Lap times continued to improve
and Kubica moved to fourth place by the 40 minute marker.
Button was the next man to head the standings as the world champion clocked in at a 1m38.939s. The two Mercedes drivers were now on their first timed laps of the day with just 20 minutes remaining. Hamilton was on a quick lap as he scored the fastest first
and second sectors. Schumacher slotted in as the 12th fastest driver after his opening effort while Hamilton became the fastest driver by four tenths of a second from his teammate Jenson Button. Sebastian Vettel improved his time slightly with a
lap of 1m39.780s but the German did not improve his position in the classification.
With just 18 minutes remaining in the session, the session kept getting better and better as the grip levels on the track kept increasing as the session progressed enabling the drivers to drive to the limit.
Tags: