Buemi on new Korea track

Formula One comes to South Korea for the first time this weekend after the new circuit passed a late inspection.

Tilke has designed eight of the 19 tracks on the Formula One calendar this season, including this track.

Few of his designs have drawn high praise from fans of the sport, with many criticising the limited overtaking opportunities on the circuits.

Only Karun Chandhok of Hispania has driven on the track, and he will not line up on the grid this weekend as Sakon Yamamoto continues his run in the team.

Other drivers, Buemi included, have been forced to learn the circuit on simulators, and the Swiss driver described the track as bearing the hallmarks of Tilke's design.

“Immediately after the Japanese Grand Prix, I headed back to Europe and spent the following Tuesday in the simulator to get some experience of what we might find in Korea,” the 21-year-old revealed. “It looks interesting enough with a very long straight, while the corners cover a really big range of types, from very slow to very fast.

“You get a sense from the simulator that the track layout is very much in the style of the more recent circuits designed by Hermann Tilke, in that he has been able to create a wide track and the overall length is one of the longest on the calendar at around 5.6 kilometres.

“I can’t wait for Friday to find out how accurate our work on the simulator was and how our STR5 car will go here.

"I hope we will at last have the F-duct for a race weekend after testing it a few times, because the track characteristics – especially the long straight – mean this technology could deliver a significant advantage.

"Other teams have had it for a while, so it would be good to join them on the same level in this respect. If we get it to work well, then I think we can really aim to qualify higher up the grid than usual on Saturday.”