F1: Korea's Yeongam presents more challenges than expected

Kovalainen's post practice comments were complimentary. In recent days, media reports in Korea and globally have been talking about disappointing ticket sales and predicting empty stands. But Kovalainen's boss made a more forceful statement: "There were more fans at the track today than we see at quite a few other races around the world, so I think this was a very good first day for the Korean Grand Prix,” said Riad Asmat, Lotus' CEO.

Kovalianen - clearly with an eye on a future as a diplomat after his racing days are over - said "I want to say thanks to the race organisers first for having done such a good job to make sure everything was ready for us, particularly when you bear in mind some of the concerns people had about the event, and it was great to see so many fans in the stands on a Friday – I think this very looks good for this weekend and for future races here. "

But he was not the only one who thought that the track was problematic at the start of the day. In the Virgin pits, Alex Snell said that photographers had come back into the pits saying that watching the cars sliding around was "like watching dancing on ice."

But there were no big incidents. The P" session was red flagged when Yamamoto spun and stopped in the middle of the track.

Even so, there was the potential for danger: Snell says "The dust in the pit lane is causing real probs for all the teams as the cars brake for their pit boxes & skid."

The teams were surprised to find that the tyres were quickly graining. Kovalianen reported it first.

Although the option tyre is quicker, it is passing its prime very quickly.

That opens up a huge range of strategies for qualifying and the race itself. If the tyres are shot after a single qualifying lap, then the rules requiring that the race is started on the same set of tyres as the qualifying lap was set could see the fastest in qualifying dashing for the pits within two or three laps of the start - effectively negating their qualifying performance.

Teams are hoping for some longer running tomorrow - at higher speeds - so as to assess the degradation of the tyres over a longer period. But how that strategy plays out - especially if the track loses overnight all the rubber it gained during today's running - is in the lap of the gods.

For sure, the track improved greatly during the day but it's still a long way from providing the grip levels that drivers such as Button and Alonso need; Webber and Hamilton will probably enjoy the conditions that both Rosberg and Schumacher described as "extremely slippery."

Vettel, of the five championship contenders, remains an unknown quantity: he is talented enough to drive around most problems except those in his head. And how he is dealing with the uncertainty is a closely guarded secret.