FIA official Charlie Whiting insists that the new Russian Grand Prix circuit in Sochi will deliver a great race and the drivers will enjoy driving the circuit later this year.
Whiting visited the venue, which is nearing completion ready to host its inaugural race in mid-October, in order to carry out an official FIA inspection, with another due in the next few months.
During his track walk, he assessed the possible locations for overtaking and DRS and generally gave a positive review of the new track.
“It looks so much better,” he told the track’s official website. “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.
“It’s a high quality track. 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.”
The circuit has many close walls as it is essentially a street circuit which winds around the Winter Olympic facilities, but Whiting insist that safety won’t be an issue with the organisers meeting all of the FIA’s demands.
“We’re happy about the safety here,” he added. “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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