Little has changed at Korea’s Yeongam circuit since the calamitous inaugural grand prix a year ago.
Bild newspaper reports the ghastly news that, when some teams opened the fridges in their paddock offices this week, food left over from the 2010 event remained rotting on the shelves.

And Williams revealed that the stickers on the team’s hospitality suite still show Nico Hulkenberg driving for them, while the words ‘Mark Webber’ and ‘Sebastian Vettel’ on the floor of the garage had to be painted over by McLaren.

“It looks as though they locked the gates after the last race and simply unlocked them yesterday,” one source is quoted as saying.

Said Sebastian Vettel, who has won two world championships since last visiting Korea: “It’s funny, thinking about everything that has happened since then.”

Another bone of contention is the circuit’s location in Mokpo, hundreds of kilometres from Seoul and with the drivers all staying in the same five-star Hyundai hotel.

For the less affluent team members and journalists, they are still having to stay in so-called ‘love motels’, while the entire Williams team is staying in Gwangju, an hour from Yeongam.

“Here in the south it’s really a little too quiet,” said Vettel. “I think basically there hasn’t been a lot going on since we left.”

The fact Yeongam still seems barely finished has raised speculation about financial problems for the event.

“It is true that we are struggling in terms of profit because of the high investment and high cost structure,” said chief organiser Park Joon-yung.

F1′s travelling circus is arriving in South Korea, and the first reports are mixed.

BBC television anchor Jake Humphrey summed up the Yeongam venue as satisfactory but “far from finished”.

“Things look pretty ready to go,” said Virgin driver Lucas di Grassi, “with some beauty work still to be finished but the main structure is ready.”

Others talked about their long journeys from the huge Seoul airport to Mokpo, the closest city to Yeongam, in the impressive high-speed KTX train with free wi-fi.

Photographer Darren Heath was less impressed with the journey, tackled by many in buses.  “F1 in Seoul?  Nah, let’s have it in the middle of nowhere 100s of miles from anywhere,” he wrote on Twitter.

Veteran Swiss correspondent Roger Benoit, writing in Blick newspaper, said the F1 track itself is an “enormous construction site”, and his hotel room one of the ones usually rented by the hour.

“No joke,” he said.

Reportedly so unimpressed was Williams with the local accommodation on offer that the British team has committed to a 3 hour round trip every day in order to stay in a nicer hotel.

“Dominating the venue are the excavators, debris and waste,” wrote Benoit, who said a bridge over the front straight is still littered with scaffolding and hard-hatted workers.

Sauber’s team manager Beat Zehnder complained about the cost of the team buildings, with the rent costing $40,000.

“Whoever wants to use the upper floor must pay another 20,000,” he said, “but everyone has decided to just use the ground floor!”

Said Benoit: “I’m already looking forward to the final races in Sao Paulo and Abu Dhabi!”

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport said rolling machines are still working on the recently-laid top surface of asphalt, with the paint for the starting grid yet to be sprayed.

“Only on Friday will we know whether the surface will withstand the stresses of formula one cars,” read the report.

“Everything on the sandy site is under construction.  Next to the pitlane is a large pile of sand.  Whoever didn’t know that F1 is running here in a few days would think it’s not happening until next year,” it added.

German Sky television pundit Marc Surer reports in Speed Week that the seating in some grandstands is not complete.

“Much remains to be done, but as for the track itself, I am surprised that it is ready,” he said.

“Whether it can withstand hours of practice and racing, however, is another question.”

Organisers of this weekend’s inaugural Korean grand prix have scattered cement dust in places around the new Yeongam layout, as the newly-laid asphalt surface continues to seep oil as it cures.

But Karun Chandhok – the only man to have completed a lap of the 5.62km layout in a formula one car – insists the circuit will be safe enough to host the race.

“I don’t think for one second that it will be disastrous,” the Indian driver told the Telegraph.  “A lot of the rumours have been inaccurate.”

In its official event preview, the Italian team Toro Rosso also urged the F1 world not to “panic” as it makes the long trek from Europe to the Jeollanam-do province.

There are concerns about the incomplete track facilities, food, hotels, access roads, organised crime in the local area and the proximity to the rogue North Korea.

“Our advice to you is don’t panic and make the most of the experience,” said the team.

But Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi is hoping the experience is not just enjoyed by F1.

“The key question will be if the people know enough about formula one to want to attend the race,” said the Swiss.

One piece of good news from the nearby port city Mokpo, about 400 kilometres south of the capital Seoul, is that three days of mostly dry weather is being forecast.

But the sport’s travelling circus is still bracing for a difficult event.  To start, Williams team manager Dickie Stanford has told his troops to be ready for a seven-hour bus ride from the capital to Yeongam.

“From a driver’s perspective the most important thing is that the tarmac lasts,” said Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld.

Nico Rosberg also said he hopes “the asphalt holds up”, and reigning world champion Jenson Button admitted he expects “a few unexpected issues” in Korea.

But 2010 points leader Mark Webber is sanguine.

“We all have to go there, see the track and get on with the job — it’s the same for everyone,” said the Australian.

The likelihood of Hyundai entering formula one in the near future has diminished.

Some years ago, the Korean carmaker – currently the fifth largest in the world and comprising Kia – was linked with Minardi when Paul Stoddart was selling the Faenza based team.

And “We are in discussions with Bernie Ecclestone,” an official of the Seoul-based company said in 2006.

Another Korean multinational, Samsung, has also been linked with F1 sponsorship, which now seems timely given the sport’s journey this week to the southwest Jeollanam-do province for the country’s inaugural grand prix.

South Korea’s economy proved robust in the wake of the global financial crisis, and Hyundai vice chairman Chung Eui-sun said recently that the marque’s “utmost priority is to boost brand image in Europe”.

The conglomerate LG is already a prominent F1 sponsor, but Hyundai is reportedly not interested.

“The grand prix could be a gateway to becoming a premium car brand, but Hyundai is simply not interested in formula one,” an anonymous F1 industry official told the Reuters news agency.

“It also requires long-term investment of several years at least and it’s doubtful whether Hyundai has that patience,” the source added.

A spokesman has confirmed reports that aspects of Korea’s new formula one track are not completed.

The FIA’s Charlie Whiting this week approved the Yeongam venue ahead of the inaugural race in less than a fortnight.

But media reports have indicated that safety requirements and the asphalt aside, the entire venue is not finished.

“Landscaping work to the surrounding area and parking lots still remains to be done,” a spokesman for organisers KAVO told the Korea Herald.

“But we are finalising last-minute touches and can be ready on schedule,” he added.

After the weekend’s Japanese grand prix, the F1 teams’ equipment and cars are already en route to the facility 320 kilometres south of Seoul.

Red Bull’s Helmut Marko admitted the team is slightly worried about the layout, with the curvier sections punctuated by straights not suitable to the RB6′s Renault engine.

“One of them is the longest straight on the calendar,” he groaned, according to Auto Motor und Sport.

Nico Rosberg, however, expressed concerns that the crucial top layer of track has only just been laid.

“The only concern is the new asphalt,” the Mercedes driver is quoted by Welt newspaper.

The media report recalled June 1985, when the Belgian GP at Spa had to be postponed for months because the new asphalt surface disintegrated.

Jerome D’Ambrosio caused by the moderately popular Renault roadshow in the South Korean capital Seoul for Formula 1 action to attack

Until 11 October will decide in the context of the FIA inspection of the new route if the first Grand Prix of South Korea actually planned on 24 can take place in October, but today, the South Korean fans had the opportunity of a Formula 1 car to look at closely.

One month after Karun Chandhok Red Bull-demo laps around the then unfinished Korean International Circuit (KIC) moved today from Jérôme D’Ambrosio with a Renault R29 from the previous season in order to infect the capital Seoul with the Formula-1 virus . The Belgians went on a specially created course along the Se-Jong Street, and laid on the quarter mile time and again through a spectacular burnout.
“This has been fun,” laughs D’Ambrosio. “I am for the first time in Seoul and I’m going for the first time a Formula 1 car through a city. It’s always exciting to discover another country, especially one such as South Korea, which is being prepared at a Grand Prix. You can feel the enthusiasm of the population for the Formula 1 already and I am sure that this will also be at the race. I did my best to give the fans a good show. I hope they enjoyed it .
But while Renault is celebrating the success of the event, come from South Korea voices, which by far are not that many people have been there, as had been hoped for in advance. In addition, Renault have not yet posted any meaningful pictures of the event.

At least one was successful: The engineers of the Road Show team programmed the V8 engine is such that he act out by different speeds, the South Korean anthem …

Bernie Ecclestone on Sunday sounded defiant amid reports Korea is not ready to welcome formula one.

Yeongam, about a four hour drive from Seoul, is scheduled to host its inaugural grand prix late next month.

Karun Chandhok did the first demonstration laps of the track on Saturday in a Red Bull, admitting that the venue is not yet complete.

Photos showed some buildings and grandstands are half built, fences missing, run-off areas unpaved and the track with only an initial layer of asphalt.

“How can a grand prix take place here?” wondered the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, captioning a photo of a construction worker carrying materials against the backdrop of a half-built building.

The newspaper said even a full supply of water and electricity is not yet present.

Additionally, many seats in the main grandstand are not installed, while parking lots are not ready to accommodate cars.

“There are problems,” admitted F1 chief executive Ecclestone, “but we assume that the race can take place.

“The circuit is definitely ready, but as for all the buildings, perhaps not,” admitted the Briton.

“So we may have to put up some tents,” Ecclestone joked.

Williams has confirmed reports that Dickie Stanford is returning to grands prix in the team manager role.

Stanford, who previously held the role until he moved to a factory-based job in 2005, is replacing Tim Newton, who will now be based at Williams’ Grove headquarters as production manager.

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At a very wet Hockenheim on Friday morning, Red Bull announced a new sponsorship deal with LG, already F1′s official technology partner.

The Korean electronics giant’s logo will appear in three places on the RB6 car, as well as on the drivers’ overalls and helmet visors.

And at the press conference, LG’s Seoul-based marketing chief Dermot Boden played down continuing speculation that South Korea’s inaugural grand prix in October might have to be delayed.