Ecclestone issues cancel threat over Korean GP
NEXT month’s Korean Grand Prix could be cancelled over safety fears, Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has warned.
Eccletone says the delayed completion of the Yeongam circuit has prevented F1 officials from inspecting the venue, which will host the 24 October race.
Korean race organisers insist all work will be completed on time, but say they have heeded Eccelstone’s warning and will speed up preparations.
“It’s not good. It should have been inspected six weeks ago. We normally have a 90-day check before a race and now we are sort of putting this off,” said Ecclestone. “What we’ve done is quite dangerous. It’s a question of do we cancel the race or not? They say everything will be OK – we have to hope they’re right.”
The Korean International Circuit had been due for inspection on 21 September, but will instead be assessed on 11 October by Charlie Whiting, race director of motorsport’s governing body the FIA.
Kim Jae-Ho, spokesman for Korea Auto Valley Operation, said: “We will rush to complete work and FIA officials will see a complete circuit when they conduct a final inspection.”