00:55 Good morning everyone and welcome to AUTOSPORT Live for coverage of round 16 of the 2012 FIA Formula 1 world championship. Are you ready for another episode in this exciting adventure, so soon after Suzuka? Good, we thought so too...

The teams and drivers have quickly crossed the East China Sea and taken up residence at the 5.615km Yeongam circuit for this weekend's Korean Grand Prix. It was a quick four-day turnaround to get the cars stripped down, packed up, sent to Korea and re-assembled, but everyone is present and correct with just a few minutes to go until the start of the opening practice session.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso is counting the cost of his first corner incident at Suzuka last weekend and his lead over Sebastian Vettel has been slashed to just four points. So it's all eyes on these two and their teams as we begin the next chapter of the story.

As always, the drivers will start off with installation runs to make sure all systems are functioning correctly after the rebuild. Then there will be some aerodynamic tests down the long straights, before they get into some meaningful runs during the second half of this session.

00:56 This is how the standings look after Vettel's victory at Suzuka:

World Championship standings, round 15:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       194        1.  Red Bull-Renault          324
 2.  Vettel       190        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          283
 3.  Raikkonen    157        3.  Ferrari                   263
 4.  Hamilton     152        4.  Lotus-Renault             239
 5.  Webber       134        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       131        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            116
 7.  Rosberg       93        7.  Force India-Mercedes       81
 8.  Grosjean      82        8.  Williams-Renault           58

00:57 Weather conditions are the best yet since Formula 1 has visited this venue. The last two years have featured cloud-laden skies and a lot of rain, but this is not the case today.

It will be mainly sunny throughout both 90-minute sessions with some light, scattered cloud dotted around. A light north-easterly breeze will peg back maximum air temperature to around 21 degrees, while the track surface could reach 35 Celsius or more this afternoon in the unbroken sunshine.

00:58 Pirelli's soft and supersoft rubber is in use this weekend.

"We're bringing the same tyre nominations to Korea as we did last year," explains motorsport chief Paul Hembery. "Which at the time was seen as quite a bold choice because Korea has the highest lateral energy loadings of all the circuits where we use the supersoft tyre.

"In the end, we saw the supersoft lasting for 10 laps or more and the soft lasting for 20 laps or more, enabling a two-stop strategy for the majority of the drivers. This year, however, all our tyres are softer apart from the supersoft, which has remained the same. We should see another two-stop race this year, which in theory should be even faster."

00:58 Giedo van der Garde is driving again for Caterham this morning, replacing Vitaly Petrov for the first session.

00:59 Track temperature is a cool 17 degrees Celsius this morning, but it will warm up as we go through the two sessions.

0 min: The practice session is underway.

0 min: Jean-Eric Vergne is first out onto the track this weekend.

0 min: Under-fire Romain Grosjean is one of the first out this morning.

0 min: Daniel Ricciardo is also on track in the other Toro Rosso for an installation run.

1 min: Glock and Pic also get going in the pair of Marussias.

1 min: Valtteri Bottas is again at the wheel of the Williams, in place of Bruno Senna for this session. He joins the track.

1 min: Maldonado, Rosberg and de la Rosa head out to check the condition of their cars.

2 min: No hurry among teams to head out early, with the track seeing little use in between F1's annual visit.

2 min: Vergne continues on for a second tour of the circuit.

3 min: Teams will want to get a lap on the cars at some point, with the machines hurriedly reassembled since arriving from Japan.

4 min: Championship leader Alonso is already underway with plenty of flow-vis paint on the rear wing of his Ferrari.

4 min: Jules Bianchi is getting another run in the Force India, but this time in place of Nico Hulkenberg. He comes out to check over the car.

4 min: Vergne completed two laps and is back into the pits. Bottas and Maldonado are into a second lap.

4 min: Alonso finds the traffic on the long main straight, looking for track position with both Button and van der Garde.

5 min: Schumacher and Vettel are on the circuit. Dani Clos (replacing Karthikeyan for this session at HRT) joins them on track.

6 min: Button completes a second tour and heads back into the pitlane.

7 min: A mixture of one and two-lap installation runs so far for the field. Only one driver yet to emerge.

8 min: Rosberg has already completed a two lap installation run. He is back out to continue checks with the Mercedes.

9 min: Vettel is coming towards the end of his second lap. He is asked on the radio to check that the response from the RB8 as he turns from left to right is symmetrical.

10 min: Further replays show that Vettel ran wide exiting the pits when he joined the circuit. He rejoined at the exit of Turn 1 after taking a trip over the asphalt run-off area.

10 min: Hamilton is one of the last to check his rebuilt car, with the team having corrected a suspension problem that marred his Japanese weekend.

11 min: Dani Clos completed an install lap without problem. He is now comparing notes with Pedro de la Rosa in the HRT garage.

11 min: Schumacher completes a third lap of the circuit and enters the pits.

11 min: Vergne is back out for another run. He is beginning his third lap of the day.

13 min: Work going on at Lotus as the team checks the installation of its Coanda-effect exhausts on Raikkonen's car.

13 min: Rosberg pits to end his second checking run and he has four laps on the board. No-one has posted a time yet.

14 min: Vergne has the circuit to himself for the moment, but he doesn't want to play either and heads for the pits. He has completed four laps.

15 min: Vergne's Toro Rosso is wheeled into the garage for routine data checks.

17 min: Button gets comfortable in his McLaren again after briefly stepping out of the car.

17 min: Widespread telemetry analysis and routine maintenance being carried out in the garages for now, with no-one on the circuit.

18 min: Bottas breaks what turned out to be a short silence and heads out for a run in the Williams.

20 min: Bottas has the track to himself. He crosses the start-finish line and begins what may be the first timed lap of the weekend.

21 min: Button heads out in his McLaren, with Raikkonen also on the move again in the upgraded Lotus.

21 min: Bottas is maintaining a reasonable pace through the second sector of the circuit.

22 min: Hamilton is also on track for a run in his McLaren.

22 min: Bottas comes round and indeed, he posts 1m45.225s to get the weekend truly underway.

23 min: Bottas completes his second timed lap and improves with 1m43.745s.

24 min: Button clocks an opening 1m41.395s effort to top the early times.

25 min: Hamilton records his first time but it is over five seconds off Button's benchmark.

25 min: Maldonado joins the racetrack, as Bottas completes his third timed lap with no improvement. He is now second to Button.

27 min: Hamilton improves to a 1m44.634s as he continues to get a feel for his McLaren on the dusty circuit.

27 min: Bottas lowers his best by two-tenths of a second on his fourth timed lap. He remains in second spot with 1m43.530s.

31 min: Grosjean clocks a 1m42.365s to put his Lotus second fastest.

32 min: Pic, Perez and Massa are all now on track for initial runs.

33 min: Maldonado goes second to Button with a lap of 1m42.120s.

34 min: Button leads the pack with a time of 1m41.395s so far with Maldonado second, Grosjean third, Bottas fourth and Hamilton fifth.

35 min: De la Rosa, Bianchi and Clos are on track for a first meaningful run, following a lengthy spell in the pits.

36 min: Perez tops the final sector time as he goes fifth fastest in 1m43.283s.

36 min: Alonso heads the first sector point as he gets a run underway.

37 min: Maldonado springs back up to second place with a lap of 1m41.459s in the Williams.

37 min: A strong initial lap from Alonso, who tops the order in 1m40.895s.

37 min: Massa slots in second fastest to his team-mate, though almost half a second slower.

38 min: Clos and de la Rosa make an appearance on the timesheet for HRT, but both are more than seven seconds off the initial pace.

39 min: Bianchi completes his first timed lap in 1m46.218s and that places him 10th.

39 min: Rosberg, Schumacher and di Resta are on track for a a run. No move yet from the Red Bull drivers since the installation lap.

40 min: Van der Garde gives himself a rough ride as he drifts wide over a sawtooth kerb in the Caterham.

40 min: Alonso continues to set a strong early pace with a new best of 1m39.857s.

42 min: Rosberg completes a slow 1m52.945s lap as he builds up speed.

42 min: Perez encounters a cloud of dust at Turn 8, wobbling off the circuit onto the ample run-off.

42 min: Schumacher comes through the final flat-out section and posts his first timed lap of the day - 1m42.332s. That places him seventh.

42 min: Glock remains in the Marussia garage after early problems with his steering.

43 min: Rosberg moves up to 16th spot with an improved lap of 1m45.515s.

43 min: Schumacher is now fastest through the first sector on just his second timed lap.

44 min: Schumacher spends a few corners behind Bianchi in the Force India, before surging past. He improves to third with 1m41.064s.

45 min: Rosberg similarly moves up the order. The German lies sixth with an improvement of 1m41.382s.

46 min: Spanners out at Lotus as well with the team making adjustments to the rear suspension on Raikkonen's heavily-revised car.

46 min: With just over half of the session completed it is Alonso up front with a time of 1m39.857s. He leads the pack by more than one second.

47 min: Maldonado is second with Schumacher third, di Resta fourth, Massa fifth and Rosberg in sixth position.

47 min: Bianchi improves with a lap of 1m42.074 and moves up to 10th place.

48 min: Further down the list, Bottas has also improved his pace but remains in 14th with 1m42.622s.

49 min: Finally we see some action from Red Bull. Webber and Vettel are both on the circuit.

49 min: Kobayashi sets an improvement to 1m41.295s in his Sauber, going ninth fastest.

49 min: Rosberg moves up to second place with a time of 1m40.546s.

49 min: Webber's first timed lap places him 10th with 1m41.743s.

50 min: Vettel is just crossing the line to begin his first attempt against the clock now.

50 min: Work complete at Lotus and Raikkonen heads out to further test the upgraded E20.

51 min: Both McLarens back on track now for a second run.

51 min: Button clocks a 1m40.480s as he gets his run underway.

52 min: Vettel joins the party in 18th position after a building lap - 1m44.291s.

53 min: Webber is set to improve this time round. He comes through the last corner and goes into second spot, behind Alonso, with 1m40.413s.

53 min: Vettel improves his pace slightly and moves up to 15th with a time of 1m42.394s.

55 min: The Red Bull pair continue to circulate. Their late arrival to proceedings is a benefit, as they undoubtedly have better track conditions to work with.

55 min: Vettel moves into fifth spot with 1m40.893s - 1.036s off the leading pace so far.

55 min: Glock heads over to the pitwall for a view of the action as work continues to replace the steering rack in his Marussia.

56 min: Alonso improves his benchmark to a 1m39.450s as the title leader continues a strong start to his Korean weekend.

57 min: Van der Garde is out of his Caterham at the moment with the team looking at the floor after his heavy bounce over the kerbs earlier on.

57 min: Webber pits the RB8, but it is merely to run through the lane and back onto the circuit.

59 min: Vettel also completed a pitlane run-through and is back on track.

60 min: Webber posts a personal best in the first sector, but it is four-tenths slower than Alonso managed on his latest tour.

61 min: Hamilton clocks 1m39.475s to go second fastest in his McLaren.

61 min: Webber improves with a lap of 1m39.767s, but he has slipped to third behind Alonso and Hamilton.

62 min: Schumacher pits the Mercedes, after reporting that he was unhappy with the feel inside his cockpit. He is wheeled into the garage.

63 min: Problems for Valtteri Bottas. Williams mechanics have taken the floor off the car and they are working to fix it.

64 min: Perez gets a wobble on under braking for the first corner, recovering via the handy asphalt area.

64 min: Bottas has completed 16 laps of the circuit so far, with a best time of 1m42.092s. He is 17th in the classification.

64 min: Vettel has moved up to fourth spot with an improved lap of 1m40.088s.

65 min: Webber was set to improve his time after two very good sectors, but the Australian pits the RB8 to end his latest run. He remains third.

65 min: Massa comes around in 1m39.854s to go fourth fastest.

66 min: Schumacher has climbed out of the Mercedes and is explaining his problem more clearly to Jock Clear in the garage.

66 min: Grosjean is now seventh fastest in his Lotus with a best of 1m40.422s.

67 min: Williams has said it is making aero changes to Bottas' car, ahead of further work for the Finn later in the session.

67 min: Massa is told he pressed the start mode button on his steering wheel, switching the engine into the wrong map for part of the lap.

68 min: Glock is finally underway after Marussia complete the change of his steering system.

68 min: Replays of Maldonado getting trapped up in traffic, resulting in an error in the twisty section towards the end of the lap. He rejoined and continued for another lap, but has since pitted.

70 min: All the top 14 drivers are in the pits. Ricciardo joins the circuit for another run. The Australian is 15th in the classification.

71 min: Alonso continues to lead the field with 1m39.450s, with Hamilton 0.025s back in second spot, Webber third and Massa fourth.

74 min: Pacesetter Alonso is back underway in his Ferrari.

75 min: A lot of work continuing on Bottas' car in the Williams garage, as the team makes changes in order to conduct a back-to-back test of its latest bodywork and exhaust developments.

75 min: Webber and Vettel are back out for another run, with just under 15 minutes of the session remaining.

75 min: Soft compound tyres throughout the field so far, with teams saving the supersoft rubber for this afternoon's improved track conditions.

76 min: Webber is third, 0.317s down on Alonso's best time, with Vettel 0.638s shy of the benchmark.

76 min: Alonso punishes his first-session set of softs with a massive lock-up at the end of the long straight.

77 min: Rosberg and Bianchi join the racetrack, while Schumacher is also out there and into a timed lap, following changes within the cockpit.

77 min: Alonso reports "a lot" of vibration, with what may be terminal damage to that set of Pirellis.

77 min: Schumacher moves up to sixth place in the standings with a lap of 1m40.221s.

78 min: Alonso remains on it for the moment but his Ferrari is wobbling on his flat spot. For some reason the Spaniard continues into another tour.

80 min: Perez is the next to lock up on worn tyres, heading through the scenery at Turn 6.

81 min: Replays of Rosberg moving a touch too far to the right on the approach to Turn 1. His Mercedes twitches wildly over the high kerb, but the German is able to continue.

84 min: Replays of Vergne running wide through the twisty section towards the end of the lap. He continues but is not able to improve on 17th place.

84 min: Williams managed to get the changes completed in double-quick time. Bottas is well into a timed lap now.

85 min: Hamilton is told others are struggling to match their earlier times as he clocks a personal best first sector.

86 min: Hamilton completes his lap in 1m39.280s to take over the leading time in the closing stages.

86 min: All 24 drivers on track now with a few minutes left on the clock.

87 min: Vettel locks up the right front tyre at the end of the long straight into Turn 3, but he is able to make the apex and continues.

88 min: Grosjean makes a late exit at Turn 4 before getting back on the circuit in his Lotus.

88 min: Webber is a few seconds behind his team-mate on the road and the Australian does manage to improve with a time of 1m39.575s.

89 min: Alonso has abandoned his Ferrari in the garage, having destroyed his allocated first session tyres with a huge lock-up.

89 min: The Australian remains in third spot, behind Hamilton and Alonso, but he has closed the gap to 0.295s.

90 min: The flag is out on first practice in Korea.

02:31 Replays showing Webber (who closed up that gap to his team-mate on the track) trying to dive inside Vettel at Turn 14. He had to back out of the move at the last moment.

02:32 Lewis Hamilton tops first practice for the Korean Grand Prix with a best lap of 1m39.148s, 0.302s clear of Alonso's Ferrari.

02:33 Webber continued his battle with Vettel all the way to the pits, as they headed back at the end of the session. The Australian is third.

02:34 Massa was fourth with Vettel fifth and the only other driver within one second of Hamilton's benchmark time. Schumacher was sixth.

02:34 Rosberg ended the session in seventh spot, with Grosjean eighth, di Resta ninth and Button rounds out the top 10.

02:35 Other notables: Raikkonen placed 11th with a best lap of 1m40.929s, 1.781s off the leading pace.

02:36 Hamilton takes the opening honours at Yeongam ahead of the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers. Join us later for second practice from Korea.