- Russian Grand Prix
Sochi a drivers' circuit - Whiting
Charlie Whiting thinks the circuit currently being constructed at the Winter Olympic park in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix will be very popular with drivers.
Whiting, the FIA's race director and safety delegate for F1, has been keeping tabs on the Russian circuit in preparation for its debut on October 12. The venue was host to the Winter Olympics earlier this year and Whiting is impressed with the way it has been turned around so quickly.
"It's a high quality track," Whiting told the event's official website. "It's clear that everything has been done really nicely. It will be a fast track, and I think it will be a really competitive track as there will be at least two or three places where drivers can overtake properly. I think that will be a very interesting track and a very spectacular race.
"It looks so much better. The last time I was here, it was a big building site. It's been a year since I've been here and it looks really beautiful now. The track itself is going to be really fast and the drivers will love it. I'm sure of that."
Whiting insists all safety concerns of the circuit have been taken into consideration and is not concerned about there being any problems for drivers.
"We're happy about the safety here,. It's absolutely first class, I could not describe it any better than that. We've done lots of simulations on the track and how we've arranged the track itself, the run-off area and the energy absorbing barriers. It's all been simulated, and we are entirely confident that Sochi Autodrom is absolutely first-class when it comes to safety. It's going to be a spectacular race and I'm really looking forward to it."
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