FIA confirms Korean GP will take place

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The Korean International Circuit has passed its FIA inspection, meaning the race meeting will go ahead as planned on October 22nd-24th.

There had been doubts over the race as the FIA regulations require inspections to take place 90 days before a race. Korea’s inspection was delayed due to over-running construction work and the tarmac was only laid last weekend.

Yung Cho Chung, chairman of race organisers Korea Auto Valley Operation and the Korea Automobile Racing Association said:

We are delighted that all works are now finished to the complete satisfaction of the FIA, and we join the whole of Korea in welcoming the Formula 1 fraternity to the Korea International Circuit for the first time.

The KIC has been constructed to the highest standards, and will become the epicentre of motorsport in the country. We believe the 2010 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix will be the catalyst to ignite enormous interest in the sport across the nation.
Yung Cho Chung

FIA race director and safety delegate Charlie Whiting said:

It is satisfactory, and I will issue the license through KARA.
Charlie Whiting

Going to the Korean Grand Prix? Find other people who are here: 2010 Korean Grand Prix discussion

2010 Korean Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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68 comments on “FIA confirms Korean GP will take place”

  1. Let’s all hope it was worth the while! And hope it suits Ferrari better then others :)

    1. Lets hope Ferrari can up their game without the track being designed for them, they have enough advantages already

      1. Jelle van der Meer
        12th October 2010, 10:56

        Let’s hope the demons visit Alonso for once and let him have some of the bad luck Massa had.

        1. Let’s hope it’s a Lewis, Jenson 1-2 and then the championship will be even more exciting.

          Can you imagine it? The title decided between 5 drivers on the final race. It would be electric.

          1. And Kubica third :-)

          2. With a Webber DNF.

        2. I hate to disappoint you but Alonso have already had his demons in Australia, Malaysia, Monaco and Spa so i hope he will have a clear path to the title now.

          1. Not going to happen. His engine is going to fail sooner or later.

          2. assuming the expected happens and vettel leads and 1-2 on the next two races, what odds will lot you give me for vettel doing a senna at abu dhabi? that would leave them both on 256 but vettel leading on 5 wins to webber’s 4

          3. @ Franton – the only engine that is going to fail here is Hamilton’s. The way he’s crashing around lately I’d not be surprised to know something went wrong with his engine.

    2. or not suit at all and finish 5th and DNF:))

    3. Well, I must say, I love all or ur above comments wanting his fav drver to win and his least fav driver’s engine to fail.
      All inn all, it shows how much we love F1 despite not seeing much overtaking. We ll love cars that are as fast as an aeroplane on the road.
      Bravo and hats off

      1. kobayashi is fast becoming my favourite driver because of his overtaking. has anyone counted how many he has done this season?

  2. I never thought they’d cancel it, I just couldn’t see it happening. Hopefully we will have a great race. Though considering that even the “boring” track have put on good races, I expect South Korea to do the same.

    1. South Korea doesn’t look like a very boring track, definitely not as boring as Bahrian, Barcelona, Valencia and Hungary. I think there will be a decent amount of overtaking on this track.

  3. Finally we know its on-now come on Webber, kick Vettel’s butt on an even playing field

  4. Let’s hope the recently laid tarmac stays in place…

    1. i have serious doubts, although i’d rather have a korean department store fall on me than spend 1 day in the commonwealth games.

    2. …, at least until the end of the last lap.

      This race was always going to happen after they put in the top layer. Even if they have to redo that for next year, along with a lot of unfinished builing work

    3. That’s the big question, after all that’s why the 90 day rule was introduced. Still tarmac mixes have changed over the years so hopefully it will. One thing for sure now is that we will find out.

    4. does this fresh tarmac mean tyre degradation could be quite high???

  5. You know, a compromised race surface may not be such a bad thing. In fact, it may be a blessing in disguise. Oils brought to the surface by the rains would make the circuit slippery, and the cars racing over the surface would pull parts of it up. Korea could well be a second Montreal, at east for 2010. The only downside is that it might estroy the surface.

    1. Agree, this might give us the unpredictability of Canada. And in the worst case, they will have to redo the surfacing for next year’s race (making that spring some suprises as well?).

      Sounds good.

    2. If part of the track starts coming apart, that’s obviously a big risk and could put holding the race in jeopardy. Still it would be a huge error on the FIA’s part if they approved a track with inadequate surface integrity ten days before the start of the race weekend.

      As you say, best case scenario is it’s very low on grip and we get another Montreal.

      1. I don’t mean coming apart in the sense that bits and pieces will be torn free and potholes will start to appear, but rather that the tyres will start to pull upwards on the tarmac, corrupting the billiard table-smooth surface and causing small bumps and ripples to appear. Enough to accelerate tyre wear, but no so much that the circuit gets shredded.

      2. I wonder how much the WRC guys laugh at this kind of thing…. I would rolling in aisles.

        I’d actually find some aisles and roll in them for the sake of it.

      3. I just found the “satisfactory” comment from the FIA a bit of a harsh contrast to the ebullient endorsement from the Korean’s themselves. But then I guess we are talking about an official document, and an FIA official’s opinion, so perhaps I am reading too much into it.

        In any case I expect, as with any new track, that we will see some degradation of the surface in areas where the loading of the cars on the surface has not been through several years of testing with repeat races.

        1. I wonder if “satisfactory” has the same meaning as “nominal” (normal-nothing unusual) or if it means that it’s good enough, but not perfect…

          1. I suspect it’s the former.
            But it would have been nice to hear a more confident endorsement from someone.

        2. I think they would either it’s satisfactory and the race will be held, or it’s not satisfactory and the race will be called off. I don’t think they’re using the word as a description, they’re simply saying it meets the criteria for the FIA.

          1. US_Peter,
            I agree with you, but I also feel the same as Stephan. A more “exciting” word could have been used to help instill confidence in the track.
            I will definately go to the race next year, and probably other events held there beforehand.
            Hopefully the track will attract a lot of different events, like the Asian Festival of Speed (AFOS) and touring car-style races.
            My biggest wish would be a Moto-GP or SBK Superbike type of race!
            I miss motorcycle racing terribly…

      4. Just looked back at your old blog;

        https://www.racefans.net/2008/06/07/when-tracks-go-crack/

        possibly very relevant. It was after Spa in 1985 that the 90 day rule came in.

  6. Off topic but, has there been ANY occasion on track this year that one of the top 5 drivers has SUCESSFULLY made an ON TRACK (not in pits or retirements) overtaking move this year? I only remember turkey with Button/ Hamilton and even that was short lived.

    1. Hamilton had 32 overtakes in the first 4 races.

    2. Button passing Hamilton in Canada.

      1. Vettel passing Webber… for a split second :)

      2. when did this happen?

        1. Turkey. That’s a failed overtake, aa. :D

    3. Hamilton & Button on Alonso in Canada. Hamilton on Webber in Australia. I’m sure there are a couple of others .. just cant think of them right now.

    4. To add to the others, Hamilton on Button in Australia and Massa on Button in Malaysia.

    5. Are you serious? How about Webber passing Glock, Kobi, and Schumi at Singapore?

      1. i think he means one of the top 5 overtaking another driver from the top 5.

  7. Sorry, to clarify previous post ” an overtaking move by a top 5 driver on another top 5 driver. “Alonso, button webber,vettel, Hamilton “

    1. There’s an interesting question right there.

      I remember Hamilton on Alonso in Canada, although Alonso dived into the pits right after that pass.

      There was a lot of passing among the top 5 in China, but who passed who escapes me.

      1. Alonso passed Button at China but his engine blew up straight away. I think Button passed him earlier in the race too.

        1. I believe it’s Malaysia where Alonso grenades his engine after dueling Button.

          1. That’s the one – sorry, brainfade!

        2. he didn’t overtake button anyway. well, it was a lunge that didn’t work.

          1. Vettel on Webber in Tur- oh yeah.

    2. hamilton on webber and alonso in canada

  8. Darn it, now that Korea is going ahead, the introduction of my guest article is going to have to be re-written …

  9. I just wonder how much of that confirmation is because of Bernie? If it is really OK then I am looking forward for a great race.

    1. Bernie has no bearing over the FIA inspections. If a circuit is not up to standard and fails its inspection, then there is nothing he can do to make the race happen.

      1. I agree – I do think Bernie might have urged for giving Korea more time, resulting in this very late inspection, but in the end I can’t see Whiting and co. approving a circuit that is dangerous, that just doesn’t make sense. He and FIA would lose a lot of credibility, too much for them to let that happen, in my opinion.

        1. With money, you can approve everything ….. in BE’s pocket :-(

  10. Let’s hope the track isn’t as boring as it looks.

  11. Any long range weather forcasts for the race?
    I mean if they have rain like in Suzuka, it’ll be a bit difficult for the water to disperse. I can see poor fans getting very muddy.
    It’s not exactly the Monaco of Asia that you get from watching the Red Bull promotion video.

  12. I reckon it will be another boring race. It looks so similar to Hungary which is one of the worst races to watch on TV.

    1. similar to hungary? I think not. Korea has 3 long straights. a high speed section and some basic 90 degree turns at the end.

      hungary has one straight, and lots of medium speed corners.

  13. Excellent news! When will we see a video of the track?

  14. F1 2010… I think its funny how the track in the game looks completely different from what it actually looks like for this race weekend. I guess all they could have done is assume it would look like the concept drawings.

  15. can t wait for this one……tarmac only laid last week…this is world rally meets f1….wheres kimi??

  16. What’s with “Harry High-Pants” Charlie Whiting’s dress sense? Even Bernie does a better job, and he’s practically mummified! :D

  17. The person who is least happy hering this news will be Webber. Coz this gives his rivals more races to catch him.

  18. Umm, has anyone seen in the picture of Charlie inspecting the circuit. The pit lane looks to be in dire shape.

  19. So what happened to all of those people who just weeks ago said the the Koreans could not finish the track? I don’t expect any of them to admit they were wrong – that would require honesty and courage – but it would be nice if they would refrain from switching tactics to bashing the track before the racing even begins.
    I know the euro-centric fans are proud of Silverstone or Spa, but it really doesn’t take anything away from those tracks to give circuits in different parts of the world a chance.
    I’m American but have never seen an F1 race because no one in the U.S. has been able to get their act together to hold a race. Now that I live in Seoul, I’m looking forward to seeing my first F1 race. Give Korea a chance, folks.

    1. I’ll stand up and be counted. I didn’t think it would happen.
      And technically of course, it shouldn’t be happening. The track was not ready in time for the final mandatory FIA inspection.

      I also think that the track has likely been the victim of corruption in its construction process. It is in Asia, after all. Where I have lived and raced most of my life. A part of the world I love. But that is just the way of things here. Even in “Westernised” Asian nations.

      Of course, the Korean track controversy will be nothing when compared to the disaster that the Indian track will be next year.

      But none of those things detract from my enthusiasm for having the race in Korea. Especially as the track does appear to have some nice features to it, and hopefully won’t be as crippled as Valencia or Abu Dabi.

      My fingers are firmly crossed for the construction quality of the track to be up to the task at hand. Something that we will only know once cars are on it and Charlie can’t possibly have tested when taking a look to sign it off.

    2. Count me too. It may be finished enough to hold the race, but it, as a whole, isn’t 100% finished. The punch list(things that still need to be done) is a PM’s nightmare, I bet.
      Glenn, I’ve been in Korea for a looooong time, and done big construction projects here and in the states. The track was supposed to be finished for inspection in JULY. Koreans can’t blame the rain, either. They should have planned for it. I did in the past, and still do.
      Poor planning and inexperience were the problems.
      It’s a shame. I just hope everything goes off well.

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