Hamilton tops times

Lewis Hamilton took aim at F1 champion Sebastian Vettel’s run of five consecutive pole positions yesterday after topping practice for the Korean GP.

In cold, wet conditions at Yeon-gam, Hamilton shrugged off a poor run of form with a best time of one minute and 50.828 seconds to outpace McLaren team-mate Jenson Button by 0.104 seconds.

Vettel, 24, who last week was crowned Formula One’s youngest ever back-to-back champion, was third fastest in his Red Bull car, ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in fourth.

Hamilton finished fifth last week in Suzuka, underlining a difficult few months in which he is winless since July.

But the 2008 champion said Vettel would be in his sights during qualifying today, where the German will be aiming for his 13th pole position in 16 grands prix this season.

“It would be great to get him here. Again, on a Friday we don’t know what they are doing so practice times doesn’t mean anything. But I think we are quick. I think our car was good,” Hamilton said.

“Jenson showed in the last race that we can be competitive, so I have no doubt that we will be out to challenge them. Whether or not we can outdo them in qualifying, which has not been done all year, will be interesting.”

The McLaren pair were 1.7 seconds clear of the rest in a daunting demonstration of their potential in the difficult conditions.