The inaugural Friday practice session of the Korean Grand Prix (Part 4)
With just 45 minutes remaining in the session, the drivers were finally getting a grip of the track and as the rubber from the tyres settled on the racing line, the drivers started to score some good times.
Nico Hulkenberg was now going very quickly in the Williams and took the fastest time with a lap of 1m44.509s. Hulkenberg was able to beat Webber's previous benchmark by 0.328 seconds to become the fastest driver of the session up until now. Alonso decided
to go on his first proper run in the Ferrari in order to take the advantage of the ever-increasing grip level with a late start.
After running half way through his first timed lap, Rosberg was so far taking things calmly and sensibly. Hulkenberg returned to the pits and followed a short run of laps that saw him take the fastest time away from Mark Webber. Rosberg rounded the final
corner and drove for the line. He completed the lap in 1m49.951s to become the 10th fastest driver of the session.
Kobayashi made a mistake near the tricky pit entry and had to take his car on the grass to regain control. Alonso started his day as the 11th fastest driver with a lap of 1m49.413s. Tonio Liuzzi produced a 1m46.546s lap to take fourth place in
his Force India behind Hulkenberg, Webber and Barrichello.
Adrian Sutil took the fourth position from his team-mate with a lap of 1m46.442s as team Force India made its mark on the classification. Rosberg was up to eighth position in his Mercedes after posting an improvement of 1m47.019s. He was now just four-tenths
of a second down on his team-mate Schumacher.
Alonso improved to 10th place in his second flying lap and kicked up the ever-present dust at Turn 18 kink before the pit straight. Sebastian Vettel was now on the circuit for Red Bull Racing. He crossed the line to score the 13th fastest
time in the session. Petrov clocked the fastest first sector of the session at 55.5 seconds.
Hulkenberg led the pack with Webber in second place and Barrichello following the championship leader in third. All three drivers were in the pits making set-up changes. Vettel was set to improve his previous lap as he came through the twisty section of
the circuit and drove towards the start-finish line. The German posted a 1m45.999s to move up to fifth place.
The reigning champion Jenson Button was now out for what McLaren describe as a baseline run near the 54 minute marker.
Alonso had been off for a dusty excursion at Turn 11 but came back underway to continue his run. Michael Schumacher was now currently third but decided to have another go on the circuit for some flying laps.
Glock topped the new-team staked with a run for the 15th quickest in the session. Red Bull was back on top, but this time it was Sebastian Vettel as he posted 1m44.404s. Button scored the 10th quickest lap with his first real effort of a 1m46.775s. Schumacher
quickly came back into the pits after a very short run on the circuit. He was now in fifth place in the session’s standings. Vettel lowered the benchmark time even more with a lap of 1m43.599s.
Robert Kubica clocked his first time of the session with a 1m48.979s and proved that Renault is not far behind, leaving Hamilton as the only man without a time on the board. Button sprang up as the second quickest driver with a 1m44.367s
effort in his McLaren.
Petrov and Heidfeld were also on the move up the order, taking fifth and sixth quickest before the 1 hour marker. Petrov further moved up to fourth place with the fastest first sector, the Renault seemed strong with its efficient F-duct in the long straights.
The practice session reached its one hour marker and the teams were now getting a hold of the track as the track was getting warmer.
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