Work still to be done at Korea's F1 track

Karun Chandhok

(GMM) Karun Chandhok lapped Korea's new formula one track on Saturday, admitting the venue "needs a bit more work".

Speculation that the Yeongam circuit will not be ready for its October debut has been rampant, but the Indian driver sounded confident the F1 world will descend on the site as scheduled for the championship's round 17.

"The garages and team buildings look pretty much finished", an excerpt of a statement issued by Red Bull quotes Chandhok as saying.

The 26-year-old completed 14 laps of the layout in last year's Red Bull car.

"The track itself needs a bit more work on the asphalt and the curbs, but the organizers think it's all within their time-lines and are confident that it will be ready on time."

On Twitter, he admitted the track needs "a lot of work" to be done before the grand prix in seven weeks.

Indeed, photos of the circuit's debut laps on Saturday depicted construction workers and materials on the dirt verges, a lack of fencing in places, and the new asphalt's final layer yet to be laid.

And Chandhok admitted that grandstand seating is an issue.

"The main grandstand is finished although they need to put up other temporary grandstands because they don't have time to put up any more permanent ones," said the HRT driver.

"Everyone has been a bit doom and gloom about it (the venue) but it's actually not that bad," Chandhok is quoted by the BBC.