Sep.4 (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 kerbs, but the organisers 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.

Latest F1 News - Mobile version

26 Feb: New Ferrari not quickest in field - Domenicali 26 Feb: Red Bull still best in 2013 - Tost 26 Feb: 2014 French grand prix 'possible' - Prost 26 Feb: Danica Patrick 'not interested' in F1 switch 26 Feb: Report - Gilles Simon working on F1 engine for Honda 26 Feb: Gutierrez plays down link to Carlos Slim 26 Feb: Caterham exhaust 'legal' insists van der Garde 26 Feb: McLaren replaces Mercedes-bound Lowe 25 Feb: 'Engine maps' trouble for Red Bull, Lotus - report 25 Feb: Mercedes-bound Lowe to miss 2013 opener - report 25 Feb: Mercedes 'in group of teams' behind Red Bull - Lauda 25 Feb: Gutierrez expects Hulkenberg to beat him early in 2013 25 Feb: New Ferrari 'much better' than 2012 - Massa 25 Feb: Teams 'will adapt' to new tyre situation - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Tight rules make today's F1 cars 'the same' - Forghieri 25 Feb: Williams removes controversial exhaust trick 25 Feb: Contract 'conflicts' cause of Marussia test snub - Razia 25 Feb: Lotus to fight Red Bull for title - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Marussia 'ahead of Caterham' - Chilton 25 Feb: Sutil will not stay in F1 as test driver The latest F1 News - Mobile Version