Yeongam, 4 October

The provisional calendar for next year features an asterisk next to the Korean Grand Prix date, implying it has an uncertain future. But the Mokpo weather gods are definitely trying their hardest to convince everyone here it’s worth coming back. In the past, rain has been a major player here, but at the moment the weather is positively summery, with clear blue skies hanging over the very picturesque background of lakes and mountains. However, there is uncertainty hanging over the race, as rain is still expected on Sunday. And within the Scuderia Ferrari garage, uncertainty too as to how Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will fair in tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.


The main reason is that this track gets very little use and the surface is very dirty and “green” on the first day of practice. When that is the case, one has to be careful not to accept that the data seen in terms of tyre behaviour, car balance and other parameters during today’s three hours of track time is set in stone, because everything can change as the track improves with every passing lap. If the Scuderia Ferrari driver pairing are unsure of where they really are in the Korean pecking order, today’s time sheet at least gives a relatively positive outlook, with Felipe ending the day fifth fastest and Fernando in seventh. Both F138s ran reliably throughout the three hours, although Felipe lost time in the morning with a puncture. It might seem strange that a team taking part in the very pinnacle of motor sport had to wait a long time before the Brazilian could go out again, when they can change a whole set of wheels in under 3 seconds in the race! However, what needs to be understood is that, with tyre use limited over every race weekend, a puncture does not simply mean changing to a new set of tyres, so there was a pause while the replacement tyre was brought up to temperature. However, overall it did not affect the team’s ability to get through the planned programme on both cars.

Fastest in both sessions was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, while Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull was second in both the morning and afternoon. Their respective team-mates, Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber are on Friday’s “second row”, with Felipe fifth. Romain Grosjean is the highest place Lotus in sixth, while his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in eighth had an encounter with the crash barriers in FP1. Fernando splits the Frenchman and the Finn in seventh spot.