YEONGAM, South Korea: Championship leader Mark Webber led a trio of Formula One title rivals at the top of the practice timesheets after a slippery first day at South Korea's new circuit Friday. The Australian spun his Red Bull off at turn 12 before returning to the track and immediately setting the fastest lap of the day, one minute 37.942 seconds, in the afternoon session. “It was a positive day and the car ran well,” said Webber, who has a 14 point lead with three races remaining. “There was a lot of information to gather and we've done that pretty successfully. “We're optimistic with today's performance.” Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, second in the championship on the same points as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, was 0.190 slower after lapping only 15th fastest in the first session on a dusty surface. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, fourth in the title battle and 28 points behind Webber, was third fastest after setting the pace before lunch with a best lap of one minute 40.887 seconds. “The first session was very interesting, it was the dirtiest circuit I have ever been on. It was so dusty it was incredible so everyone was really just having trouble sliding around a lot,” the Briton said. “But the evolution has been quite dramatic I think. People were speeding up by seconds per lap ... going into P2 (the second session) the track was a lot better. “There's still a lot of dust and stuff around, especially off-line but nonetheless it feels quite good. it's very fast.” In a measure of how competitive the field is, four teams filled the top four places with Poland's Robert Kubica fourth in second practice for Renault. Vettel was seventh, the position Webber occupied in the morning. “I think we got a crash course in sliding around and drifting today,” said the German, who suffered a puncture early in the second session and had to switch to the slower option tires. “It was good fun.” McLaren's Jenson Button, the reigning champion, mirrored his overall championship position by ending both sessions in fifth place. The Briton's car had to be doused with fire extinguishers during the second session as the rear overheated but there was no significant damage and he was able to get back on track. “It meant when I went back out there were certain things I couldn't use, which is a little disappointing, but it's fine,” Button said. “The car is working well around here. It's nice to drive and the circuit is quite flowing. “But there's a lot of dust. If you put a wheel only slightly offline there's a huge amount of dust, which might be an issue in the race, but apart from that the circuit is fun to drive.” Drivers sent up regular puffs of dirt as they carved through the final corner of the anti-clockwise layout. Organizers said some 20,000 fans, many of them schoolchildren, had turned out on the first day of action at a circuit that was only fully asphalted two weeks ago and still has workers assembling seats in the grandstands. The struggling Hispania team suffered setbacks in both sessions, with Brazilian Bruno Senna careering off the track with an apparent rear suspension failure in the morning and Sakon Yamamoto hitting the wall and stalling in the later stint. The cash-strapped HRT Formula One team was fined $5,000 Friday after it managed the unusual feat of releasing a car with the tire warmer still attached.
