I know Wouter usually does these posts and I hope he doesn't mind me stealing his thunder. If he wants he can make one and merge this thread with it or something. Whatever, let's get onto the grand prix!
Coming into the weekend, the 5-way battle for the drivers crown is still very much alive. Button, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel and Webber are still duking it out for the title.
The newest circuit in Korea has been surrounded by much controversy coming into the weekend, like, would it even be ready for racing? Once it was given the greenlight by the FIA less than two weeks ago, there were still questions, would the track pavement be cured in time? Would the grandstands be finished?
Well now with both practice sessions in the books it looks like those questions have been put to rest.
In the first session the track, being so new, was very slick and the teams were slowly trying to get a feel for the track.
Free Practice 1 Times:
1 LC Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 1'40.887
2 R Kubica (POL) Renault 1'40.968
3 N Rosberg (GER) Mercedes 1'41.152
4 S Vettel (GER) Red Bull 1'41.371
5 J Button (GBR) McLaren 1'41.940
6 M Schumacher (GER) Mercedes 1'42.022
7 M Webber (AUS) Red Bull 1'42.202
8 N Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber1'42.293
9 N Hülkenberg (GER) Williams 1'42.678
10 RG Barrichello (BRA) Williams 1'42.883
11 V Petrov (RUS) Renault 1'42.896
12 F Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1'43.054
13 K Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber1'43.309
14 A Sutil (GER) Force India 1'43.602
15 F Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 1'43.928
16 S Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 1'43.940
17 V Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 1'44.887
18 J Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 1'45.141
19 T Glock (GER) Virgin 1'45.588
20 J D′Ambrosio (BEL) Virgin 1'46.613
21 H Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus 1'47.115
22 S Yamamoto (JPN) HRT F1 1'50.347
23 B Senna (BRA) HRT F1 1'50.821
24 J Trulli (ITA) Lotus 1'51.701