Welcome to Yeongam for the first practice session of the inaugural Korean Grand Prix. We've got a newly-laid track and nobody really knows what's going to happen when 24 cars head out on it. We'll find out over the next 90 minutes.

It's a bright sunny morning here and the drivers are ready to head out. We're expecting very slippery conditions in this first session so there could be a few thrills and spills as the drivers learn the new layout.

We've got a relatively normal line-up here in terms of drivers. The only Friday tester out there is Jerome d'Ambrosio in the Virgin, stepping in for Lucas di Grassi this morning.

Kovalainen heads out in the Lotus to become the first car to hit the track this weekend.

Hamilton is out on track and everybody is taken it very easy early on. There is a lot of dust on the track and they are understeeing quite a lot.

Hamilton is staying out for a second installation lap.

Alguersuari reports that the track is "very, very dirty".

We can safely say that the times from the first session are going to be fairly meaningless. Alguersuari has set a 2:16.178 to get us started.

The projected lap time is a 1:44, so there is plenty of time in the track. Alguersuari is going at half throttle around this circuit, he simply cannot commit. It's very strange for a dry track.

The top layer of Alguersuari's tyres are almost white having driven 100 metres down the pit lane. There is still a fair bit of construction that has been completed in the last week so the pits are pretty dusty at the moment. It should improve as the weekend wears on.

The Renaults of Kubica and Petrov are out on track.

Kubica is getting his car in four wheel drifts all around the circuit as he searches for grip. He heads straight back to the pits.

Hamilton and Massa are back out on track.

The real concern at the moment is that it might rain. If it does the circuit would become even more slippery as it mixes with the oils coming up from the tarmac.

Massa is on a pretty committed lap. He's by the fastest through sector two. But he heads straight back to the pits. Alguersuari's time of 2:16.178 is still the only one that has been set.

Sadly most of the grandstands at the back of the circuit are empty this morning.

Yamamoto misses the turn three apex by several metres. The one car you would not want to be driving this weekend is the HRT.

And he runs wide at turn 11, the first driver to leave the race track.

But despite all those mistakes, Yamamoto completes a lap time with a 2:05.315.

Schumacher is out on track now and takes plenty of kerb in the final corner as he starts his fast lap. He then comes up behind Hamilton in turn four and runs wide. He is still on for the fastest lap so far.

After understeering horribly through the penultimate corner, Schumacher sets a 1:53.458. But that is still some way off the times we are expecting later in the weekend.

Buemi is now quickest with a 1:53.318. The drivers' confidence is certainly building but the cars are still sliding quite a bit.

Schumacher betters his time to set a 1:50.140.

Webber is now on track and pushing fairly hard. The car wants to swap ends through turns four, five and six. But he comes up behind Yamamoto and his lap is ruined.

Yamamoto isn't keen to yield but then outbrakes himself into turn one and Webber slips up the inside.

Webber has set the fastest time with a 1:49.308.

If you have any questions or want to make any comments, feel free to get in touch by clicking on the link at the bottom of this window.

Webber sets a 1:45.723 to go considerably quicker than anyone so far.

Massa runs wide in sector two with a little mistake.

Massa makes another mistake into turn one and rins wide. Buemi has also had a moment towards the end of the lap as he came up behind a Lotus.

Christos says: "It seems that spectators lost their way! First time I see COMPLETLY empty Grandstands."

Webber has improved to a 1:44.837.

James asks: "What effect will the new track have on there tyres?"

I don't think Bridgestone are expecting serious wear rates, and once the track has rubbered in things will improve. However, drivers might find the tyres wear rate changes dramatically over the course of the weekend and that will be something to factor into strategy.

Jared: "All the cars look quite twitchy on the new track, but you have to feel for Sakon and Bruno. That HRT looks like it's on ice in the corners"

Alex asks: "If the track starts breaking up during the race, will it be red flagged or will they keep going?"

There is no real precedent. Most of you will remember Canada 2008 when they laid concrete on parts of the track to patch it up. Most the reports from the people who ought to know what will happen suggest that the track will remain in one piece.

Hulkenberg has set a new fastest lap with a 1:44.509, so times are improving with every lap.

Massa, who is 2.590 off that time, was complaining that there was no grip. His race engineer Rob Smedley told him to stay out there and keep pumping times in.

Mick asks: "What are your first impressions of the track? Will it pose a challenge? Will there be overtaking possibilities?"

It actually looks pretty good. There should be overtaking opportunities at at least one of the three big braking zones in sector one. The middle sector has some great sweeping corners, similar to Maggots and Becketts at Silverstone. Then the final sector is penned in by concrete barriers and the final corner, in particular, will punish anyone who makes a mistake.

Hulkenberg is still fastest but Vettel is now out on track.

Mark asks: "Hi there, what kind of wing levels are they expecting to run? Monza style-I know, probalby not, Canada, Hungary?"

A very good question. McLaren's chief engineer Phil Prew said earlier this week that a higher downforce level might be better for qualifying but drivers on low downforce settings could be better off in the race once the track rubbers in. F-ducts will also be important to allow drivers to run high-downforce in the corners without sacrificing straight-line speed.

Sutil just came up behind a slow moving Virgin in the final corner and very nearly ran wide as he moved to avoid him. The Virgin was heading into the pits, the Force India wasn't and it was all a bit close for comfort. The drivers are set to talk about the pit entrance with the FIA in their meeting later today.

Jocelyn: "There seems to be general understeer, but no oversteer. Why so?"

The drivers are committing to the corners hoping to find grip where there isn't any and the car just ploughs straight on. Oversteer happens under power application and clearly the drivers are being a little bit more careful on the corner exits. But I've just seen Kubica lock up his rear brakes into the first corner and have the car snap out on him.

Button is now fastest with a 1:43.096, Vettel is 0.503 down on that time. As I type, Button understeers wide and gets grass and dirt all over his tyres.

Adam asks: "Seeing as the projected lap time was 1.44 and they are already under that, how far under do you think they could go? Under 1.40?"

Quite possibly. I think we'll have to wait to hear from the drivers about how good or bad the grip was after the session. It may be that the track is not as bad as the teams thought.

Jordan asks: "Can Webber win this race? And how are the test going with the new tyres they are using next year?"

I don't think Webber will win this weekend. Vettel is the stronger of the two Red Bulls at the moment and Webber has, understandably, started to look a little tentative as he protects his lead in the championship. If Webber gets a podium he will be happy and then we might see him push on the more familiar territory of Brazil.

As for the Pirelli tyres, we've only heard good things. However, that's exactly what we'd expect as Pirelli wouldn't want any bad publicity. We'll get a better idea of what they are like after the Abu Dhabi test.

Senna has gone off with a massive spin and his rear suspension has collapsed. It looks like a failure. That happened in one of the fast corners in sector two and would have been pretty scary.

Button's 1:43.096 is still the fastest lap. Yellow flags are out at the moment so there is no opportunity to improve.

Marty: "What's happening with Hamilton, 2 mins to go not timed laps. You would think a driver would want to do as many laps on a new circuit as they could"

He is in the garage with the engine cover off. I'm not sure what the problem is but you're right he would want to be out on track pumping in lap times.

Kubica and Petrov are the fastest through the speed trap in this session. Kubica was clocked at 316km/h. Petrov 314km/h, with a group of cars at 313km/h.

The two Williams are now fastest. Hulkenberg quickest of all with a 1:42.678. Barrichello just 0.205 behind.

Schumacher was on a very quick lap but the rear end snapped out under braking in sector two and he has backed off a bit. His time is only good enough for fourth as a result, it could have been better.

Hamilton's engine cover is back on and he should be about to head out for a run in the last ten minutes of this session.

Air temperature is up to 30C so it's pretty hot here.

Rosberg sets the fastest time with a 1:42.532, it could have been quicker had he not come up behind Massa in the final sector.

Hamilton is back on track and has started his first timed lap of this run.

Button is on another quick lap... but he loses time in the twisty final sector and goes third fastest.

Hamilton can only manage 16th fastest but we don't know what kind of fuel load he is running.

Vettel very nearly ends up going into the back of Yamamoto through the final corner and then passes him on the straight with the help of his F-duct.

Button sets a new quickest time with a 1:41.940 and Hamilton immediately improves to a 1:42.208.

Kubica is now up to second with a 1:41.981.

Vettel gets baulked again in the final corner, so we've yet to see the best from him.

Hamilton goes fastest of all with a 1:40.887, a brilliant lap to go a full second faster than Button. But we're still not sure if these times are representative of this weekend's pace.

The session comes to an end but Hamilton is going even faster.

Kubica goes second, 0.081 off Hamilton, who pits before the end of his lap.

So the session comes to an end and it's advantage McLaren. But it's still too early to make any concrete predictions about the race. Make sure you join us for the second session when we will see the first soft tyre run and get an even better idea of the running order.