» Korean GP: Schumacher fastest in soaked first practice

Michael Schumacher has continued his ever-improving run of form by finishing on top of the timesheets in a rain-hit opening practice session for the Korean Grand Prix.

The Mercedes GP driver out-paced his compatriot and newly-crowned World Champion Sebastian Vettel by just fiver-hundredths of a second, while Adrian Sutil made is three Germans in the top-four with the fourth-fastest time, behind Force India team-mate Paul di Resta.

Aside from the initial installation laps, the track remained nearly abandoned for the first hour of the ninety-minute session, as drivers and teams limited their wet-weather running, hoping for the forecasted rain to ease.

Almost an hour passed before Lewis Hamilton kickstarted a sequence of half a dozen competitors getting some track mileage; the McLaren driver posted a seemingly-leisurely 2:03.391, which was soon beaten by Sébastien Buemi.

The Swiss driver’s time was eventually pipped by the Force India drivers with ten minutes to run.

Vettel then claimed top spot in the closing minutes, only to be bumped off the perch by Schumacher, who lapped the track with a 2:02.784.

Behind the top-five were Kamui Kobayashi, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Sergio Pérez and Mark Webber.

Only eighteen drivers attempted to post a lap time during the session, with both Renaults, both Ferraris and McLaren’s Jenson Button being among the high-profile drivers who opted for scarcely any running.

The session also saw the Grand Prix debut for Frenchman Jean–Éric Vergne, who took over Jaime Alguersuari’s seat in his first Friday practice outing. The Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up finished the session 13th-fastest.

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2011 Korean Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Session Times:

	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1.	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP W02	2:02.784	10
2.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Renault RB7	+ 0.056	8
3.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes VJM04	+ 0.128	12
4.	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes VJM04	+ 0.357	12
5.	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari STR6	+ 0.398	9
6.	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari C30	+ 0.508	13
7.	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes MP4-26	+ 0.607	6
8.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP W02	+ 1.527	12
9.	Sergio Pérez	Sauber Ferrari C30	+ 2.013	8
10.	Mark Webber	Red Bull Renault RB7	+ 2.399	5
11.	Karun Chandhok	Lotus Renault T128	+ 3.566	11
12.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Cosworth FW33	+ 4.068	11
13.	Jean–Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso Ferrari STR6	+ 4.757	9
14.	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth FW33	+ 5.434	5
15.	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT F1 Cosworth F111	+ 6.048	14
16.	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT F1 Cosworth F111	+ 6.448	14
17.	Jérôme d’Ambrosio	Virgin Racing Cosworth MVR-02	+ 9.874	7
18.	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing Cosworth MVR-02	+ 11.724	4
19.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari F150° Italia	no time	1
20.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari F150° Italia	no time	5
21.	Bruno Senna	Renault R31	no time	1
22.	Vitaly Petrov	Renault R31	no time	1
23.	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault T128	no time	1
24.	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes MP4-26	no time	1