2011 Korean Grand Prix (Rd 16, Free Practice 1, Oct 14th, TV Notes)

Yeongam circuit. © Creative Commons / noieraieri

Michael Schumacher topped a sodden first practice session in Korea on Friday.

The German veteran set his best late in very wet conditions that saw several drivers suffer offs and spins.

Schumacher too, very nearly crashed his Mercedes into the inner pit wall after traipsing across a damp patch. Despite the persistent mishaps, no damage was inflicted to any machinery.

Schumacher’s best lap of 2:02.784 just edged out champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) by a mere 0.056 seconds. It could have been a much worse session for Vettel.
The Red Bull man very nearly collected a slow Virgin on a run through the second second, after being blinded by shooting spray.

It was a decent morning for Force India with Paul di Resta 3rd, just over a tenth off the pace and Adrian Sutil 4th. Sebastien Buemi led the Toro Rosso charge in 5th ahead of Kamui Kobayashi 6th on the leaderboard.
Buemi’s teammate for the morning was third driver Jean-Eric Vergne. The Frenchman set the 13th best time, nearly five seconds off the pace – a worthwhile effort considering the conditions.

Lewis Hamilton set the 7th quickest time, although the McLaren pilot finished his programme early. The Briton was the first to set a time (after 55 minutes), completing six laps to evaluate some aerodynamic of mechanical parts.
Ferrari brought a new front wing, but neither driver ran any timed laps.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
 1.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes                2m02.784s            10
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        2m02.840s  + 0.056    8
 3.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes    2m02.912s  + 0.128   12
 4.  Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    2m03.141s  + 0.357   12
 5.  Sebastien Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari      2m03.182s  + 0.398    9
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari          2m03.292s  + 0.508   13
 7.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes        2m03.391s  + 0.607    6
 8.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                2m04.311s  + 1.527   12
 9.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari          2m04.797s  + 2.013    8
10.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault        2m05.183s  + 2.399    5
11.  Karun Chandhok        Lotus-Renault           2m06.350s  + 3.566   11
12.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth       2m06.852s  + 4.068   11
13.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      2m07.541s  + 4.757    9
14.  Rubens Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth       2m08.218s  + 5.434    5
15.  Narian Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth            2m08.832s  + 6.048   14
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth            2m09.232s  + 6.448   14
17.  Jerome D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth         2m12.658s  + 9.874    7
18.  Timo Glock            Virgin-Cosworth         2m14.508s  + 11.724   4
19.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                 no time               1
20.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 no time               5
21.  Bruno Senna           Renault                 no time               1
22.  Vitaly Petrov         Renault                 no time               1
23.  Heikki Kovalainen     Lotus-Renault           no time               1
24.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        no time               1

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