South Korea – Free Practice 1: Lewis Hamilton in the early morning

It’s a sunny sky and an ambient temperature of 17°C that welcome the drivers on the Yeongam circuit, as the reserve drivers take the track: Giedo van der Garde for Caterham, Dani Clos for HRT, Jules Bianchi for Force India, and Valtteri Bottas for Williams.

At the green light, the drivers quickly storm the track for their traditional installation laps, giving Kimi Räikkönen the chance to discover the Korean circuit by taking a first off-track excursion at the exit of turn 4. The schedule will be busy for the Finn as he is responsible for developing the Coanda-effect exhausts that Lotus has finally introduced on the Lotus E20.

However, it takes 25 minutes to see Valtteri Bottas complete a first timed lap in 1:45.225 on Soft tires, the hardest offered by Pirelli for the Korean round. Jenson Button does better in 1:41.395, while the grip level of the track, which is very rarely used, is still very low, thus promising a constant improvement in performance throughout the weekend.

As the session approaches its halfway point, Fernando Alonso is the first man to go under the one minute forty mark, with a time of 1:39.857. Only Kimi Räikkönen, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, and Timo Glock have yet to record timed laps. The German driver’s Marussia is on the stands, with mechanics focusing on the front end following a steering issue.

Once out of their garages, the Red Bull drivers quickly move to the front, but more than half a second behind Fernando Alonso, who nails it with a time of 1:39.450, the Spaniard making the difference compared to his competitors in the second sector. However, Lewis Hamilton beats him in the middle sector before falling short by 25 thousandths of a second to the best time of the native of Oviedo.

At Williams, Valtteri Bottas’s single-seater is placed on trestles, and the floor is dismantled for inspection by the mechanics of the Grove team. However, the Finn soon returns to the track.

The Yeongam circuit, with its long straights punctuated by heavy braking zones, leads drivers to experience varying degrees of wheel lock-ups. For example, Fernando Alonso emerged from turn 3 with a flat spot on his right front tire after braking too late past the marker.

In the final minutes, Lewis Hamilton grabs the best time with 1:39.280 on Soft tires, while no driver has used the Super Soft tires, likely preferring to use them in the afternoon once the track is more rubbered in.

Under the checkered flag, the Brit treats himself to the luxury of driving a lap in 1:39.148. Alonso is in second place, ahead of Webber, Massa, and Vettel, while on the Lotus E20 equipped with Coanda effect exhausts, Kimi Räikkönen is in eleventh place.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2012 Korean Grand Prix: