Korean organisers sorry for delays

With work still going on at the Korean circuit ahead of Friday's opening practice, Korean chiefs are aware that the venue is not as well finished as they would have liked.

And with officials also learning about the logistics of hosting a race, race promoter Yung Cho Chung has admitted that this weekend will not be as good as he would have liked - but he says that issues will be dealt with.

"The track itself is fine, but the rest I am not very happy with because we are two months behind schedule," Chung told AUTOSPORT at the Korean track on Thursday.

"So there has not been time to do everything. We are sorry for the audience because when the racing goes on, there will be just black asphalt and cars.

"I wanted more of a nice environment for the people, and I plan to do something for next year. I want to make sure that it looks a lot greener and I have to do that for next year. You want people coming here not only to watch the race, but also to enjoy the rest of the facilities.

"People say it is nice circuit, and it is better than what they expected, but I feel terrible and I am not 100 per cent satisfied myself."

Chung said that race organisers and local government officials had already met to discuss concerns that have arisen - including complaints about the standards of local hotel rooms - and action was being taken to try and improve matters in the future.

"I have taken note of the improvements that are needed and we had a meeting last night with the government officials to discuss the issues," he said. "We have to educate them and understand the culture differences."

Despite the 11th hour completion of the track, which only passed its final FIA inspection a fortnight ago, Chung said he never had any doubts that the race would take place.

"We worked very hard in the last few months because we were behind schedule due to the weather," he said. "In July and August we had 38 days non-stop rain and my workers could not do anything at all.

"So I had to change the plan and with the deadline approaching we worked really hard, but we never thought about cancelling the race or postponing the opening of the circuit.

"I think today, as you can see, there are 1500 workers on it, plus the military are here being a great help. They all want to be a part of the construction."