Karun Chandhok is confident that the new Korean Grand Prix track will be ready for its inaugural event in October, following his demonstration run last weekend.
The Indian driver drove some laps of the track in a Red Bull Racing show car as part of a promotional event held by the race organizers. Although the track has plenty of progress to make to get in shape for the grand prix, especially in terms of off-track facilities, Chandhok is convinced that plans are in good shape.
"Undoubtedly, they still have a lot more work to do, but now from what they say it's just in the touch-up stages," Chandhok told F1.com. "The asphalt and curbs need a bit more work and the access roads and paddock have to be finished off, but the organizers say it's all OK for their time frames."
He added: "There is only one word that describes it best: enormous! The pit buildings for the teams are huge. I had a chance to look around the paddock and the grandstands as well, which all look pretty good. I have to say it's a really picturesque setting with the green fields and sea just outside the paddock. The teams and the fans will just love it."
Chandhok also thinks that the layout will be good for F1 racing, with a good mixture of fast sections and slow speed sections.
"It has a good mix of corners," he said. "The first part of the lap has long straights followed by slow corners, which should allow plenty of passing opportunities. The long straight after Turn 2 will allow some good slip streaming.
"From Turn 7 onward, the circuit opens up and there are four high-speed corners with some elevation changes, which will be interesting for the drivers. Turns 8-9 and 11-12 are going to be really interesting for the drivers, with high-speed changes of direction and camber changes.
"It's also got a bit of a street-circuit feel to it, actually, with the walls being quite close, and you can't really look through the apex of a lot of the corners – a bit like the Valencia street circuit."