Ecclestone now sure Korea will happen

FIA race director Charlie Whiting is due to undertake a 48-hour evaluation of the new Korean venue immediately after the Japanese GP - with a decision on whether the track is up to standard expected before Wednesday.

Even though there will be no official confirmation about the event until then, Ecclestone indicated on Saturday that the race was definitely on - despite recent delays in construction of the circuit.

"I will be there, the world will be watching and we will have a great race - it is on, end of story," Ecclestone told the Daily Express, just a fortnight on from having expressing some doubts about the event.

"They had problems but they have done wonders in the last few weeks. I've been in touch; I've seen photographs and the top layer of the track has been laid. They will pass the inspection."

F1 teams had expressed some concern about Korea being called off so soon before the event - especially with a world title at stake - but all were happy for the final decision to be left in the FIA's hands.

Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug said: "We supported the decision to go there. I'm sure the right decision will be taken by the FIA and I want to underline that if we had stayed where we used to be, years and years ago, Formula 1 wouldn't be what Formula 1 is right now.

"Of course, everybody would have wished that this track is ready a little bit earlier but I'm sure there are good reasons for the delay. But if you look back, there was a lot of criticism sometimes of new tracks which are really good right now.

"I think Formula 1 developed in a very good way and of course Bernie was very much pushing in that direction. It is not the easiest way to go motor racing for the teams but if you are not growing, it's just wrong and I think it's the right approach, really."