Promoter of Sunday's Korean Grand Prix is doubtful about event's future

THE fate of the Korean Grand Prix next season is in the balance, its promoter says, three years after its debut race. The race is on Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel

THE fate of the Korean Grand Prix next season is hanging in the balance, its promoter says, just three years after its debut race.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton of Britain set the pace in first free practice on Friday for Sunday's race at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, 400 kilometres south of Seoul,as injury-hit Finn Kimi Raikkonen walked away from a late crash.

First held in 2010 in torrential rain, the grand prix has struggled to attract sponsors and crowds but has been provisionally pencilled in for next season.

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One's commercial rights holder, brought the sport to the country but needs convincing it is worth keeping.

The race had a stay of execution last year when Ecclestone agreed to renegotiate the terms of the contract - hence a banner signed by local authorities at this year's race reading: "Thank you, Mr Ecclestone, for 2013 F1 Korean GP."

But the F1 supremo may not be so generous this time.

"The possibility to hold the event [next year] is 50-50," Park Won-Hwa, the acting promoter, told journalists ahead of Sunday's race.

"We have to negotiate with Mr Ecclestone. I expect his support for our Korean GP to succeed. Mr Ecclestone was the first person to introduce F1 to our country.

"We have to deal with Mr Ecclestone. We expect his favours, but we do not know yet."

A typhoon threatening northeast Asia could bring rain to Sunday's race but will not cause major problems, according to forecasters.

Drivers have expressed fears of a repeat of the inaugural race in 2010, which was halted for about an hour and started behind a safety car because of torrential rain.

Typhoon Fitow is edging towards China's eastern coast but there are concerns its outer bands could bring wind and rain to the southwest edge of South Korea, where the race takes place at 3pm local time (4pm AEST) on Sunday.

First practice on Friday morning took place under blue skies and temperatures of about 22 degrees.

Hamilton, whose debut season with Mercedes is in danger of petering out after disappointing results in the past two races, was quickest with a time of 1min 39.630sec.

That was just 0.037sec ahead of world championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Germany and 0.186sec better than Vettel's departing Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber of Australia.

Lotus driver Raikkonen, fourth in the title race, was eighth quickest but the Finn spun off towards the end of the session and slammed into a wall.

The Ferrari-bound Raikkonen appeared to walk away unharmed but the incident will spark fresh concern over his long-term back injury which flared again last month in Singapore.

There were heads in hands in the Lotus pit after they watched images of Raikkonen careering into the concrete wall.

Asked by one of his engineers what happened, the famously terse Raikkonen replied sardonically over the team radio: "I hit the wall."

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was fourth quickest, ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button in fifth, followed by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lotus's Romain Grosjean.

Sergio Perez of McLaren and Alonso's Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa rounded out the top 10.