Hamilton sure McLaren can challenge Red Bull in the Korean Grand Prix

The British driver set the pace in the second practice session of the day, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton admitted it would be great to be able to stop Vettel's run of poles on Saturday, the German having been on top on Saturday 12 times already.

"It would be great to get him here tomorrow," the Briton said. "Again, on a Friday we don't know what they are doing so today doesn't mean anything. But I think we are quick. I think our car was good.

"Jenson showed in the last race that we can be very, very 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."

Hamilton, who finished ahead of team-mate Jenson Button today, admitted the wet conditions had made today's work irrelevant, as the rest of the weekend is expected to be dry.

"Today is not a particularly important day and I heard the next two days are going to be much better, so today is kind of irrelevant set-up wise and all that kind of things," said Hamilton.

"Tomorrow we'll get a much better feel for where the car is at. But if it rains we are in a good position, so that's a positive."