F1 cars ready for Friday's Korean debut

The F1 Korean Grand Prix starts its three-day event Friday at Yeongam in South Jeolla Province, with 24 drivers from 12 teams and their machines now gathering, along with hundreds of staffers.

The drivers can practice up to three times from Friday to Saturday noon, ahead of a qualifying session to try and take poll position.

Qualifying will take place over three occasions. In the first 20-minute time race the slowest seven drivers will get grid positions 18 to 24 and the second 15-minute race will decide the next order of the next seven drivers.

The remaining 10 drivers will compete for poll position in the final 10-minute session.

As the Korean Grand Prix is holding its inaugural race the drivers have less information on whether the Korean International Circuit is easy to overtake or not.

For that reason, the drivers are likely to focus on the qualifying sessions as the starting positions could have a huge bearing on the end result.

Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing leads the drivers’ championship with 220 points, Spanish hero Fernando Alonso of Scuderia Ferrari-Marlboro and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing shared second with 206.

The top 10 finishers are awarded points on a sliding scale, with the winner receiving 25, while 10th place gets a solitary point.

While the drivers could add up to 75 points in the last three events, two Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will need to shine to keep alive their slim hopes of winning the championship.