GP Korea, Free Practice 1: Hamilton precedes Alonso

Best time for Lewis Hamilton in the first free practice session of the Formula 1 Korean GP. At Yeongam the McLaren driver preceded Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, leading for most of the session. Third time for Mark Webber with Red Bull ahead of the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa and the other Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.

Alonso immediately took the lead and seemed firmly in the lead with a 1.39.450 and when the teams dedicated themselves to long runs in the final half hour it seemed unlikely that anyone would be able to overtake him. But with four minutes to go Hamilton lapped in 1.39.280 in his stint, relegating the Spaniard's Ferrari to second place. Hamilton then dropped to 1.39.148, trailing Alonso by three tenths.

Webber also improved his time towards the end of the session and, like his teammate, Vettel, was penalized by traffic in the final stages. Behind the German, in sixth and seventh position, the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. The seven-time world champion spent a lot of time in the pits changing the set-up of his car as he was not satisfied with the balance.

Romain Grosjean is eighth with Lotus while Kimi Raikkonen is 11th with the updated version of the E20 with exhausts that exploit the Coanda effect and other innovations. Closing out the top 10 are Paul di Resta (Force India) and Jenson Button (McLaren).

Jules Bianchi lapped in place of Nico Hulkenberg in the first session and was the best among the drivers on Friday, obtaining the 13th time. Valtteri Bottas is 18th with Williams after completing comparative tests with new aerodynamic components.

Giedo van der Garde tested the Caterham by finishing 22nd despite a hard pass on a curb. Only 13 laps for Timo Glock with Marussia, slowed down by steering problems.

F1 GP Korea – Free Practice 1 Results

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.148s 23 2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.450s + 0.302s 21 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m39.575s + 0.427s 21 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m39.854 .0.706s + 23s 5 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 40.088m0.940s + 21s 6 1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 40.221m1.073s + 21s 7 1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 40.396m1.248s + 24s 8 1. Romain Grosjean Lotus -Renault 40.422m1.274s + 22s 9 1. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 40.440m1.292s + 19s 10 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 40.480m1.332s + 21s 11 1. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 40.929m1.781s + 14s 12 1. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 41.048m1.900s + 25s 13 1. Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 41.140m1.992s + 21s 14 1. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 41.220m2.072s + 19s 15 1. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 41.514m2.366s + 20s 16 1. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41.596m2.448s + 23s 17 1. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 42.021m2.873s + 25s 18 1. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 42.027m2.879 .23s + 19s 1 42.104. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 2.956m24s + 20s 1 42.175. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 3.027m13s + 21s 1 42.706. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 3.558m22s + 22s 1 42.820 3.672. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 19m23s + 1s 44.517 5.369. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 23m24s + 1s 45.735 6.587. Dani Clos HRT-Cosworth 22mXNUMXs + XNUMXs XNUMX