Nick Heidfeld condemns Korea track conditions
Korea's Yeongam track has been placed under further scrutiny for its terrible race conditions following Sunday's dramatic Grand Prix, this time from Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld.
The 33-year-old German, who returned to the Sauber team late in the season, condemned the country's inaugural Grand Prix as having some of the worst conditions ever experienced by Formula 1 drivers.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) unleashed the red flag during the tournament when visibility conditions deteriorated, a pragmatic move condoned by Heidfeld.
“I said it was the worst conditions I had ever driven in. And just before [Charlie Whiting, FIA race director] red flagged it, I said, ‘they have to red flag it’. It was hard from the outside to understand why it was so bad, as when we stopped and got out,
it looked like a tiny bit of drizzling. But in the car, the visibility was zero. The only problem was the visibility, because there was a little bit of water. Driving alone, it would have been easy to drive.”
The Yeongam track faced its own downpour of trouble before the race, with off-track facilities and infrastructure falling short of deadline criteria.
After a series of delayed inspections, the FIA gave the track the go-ahead just in time for Korea's first ever Grand Prix to run on schedule. But with the pit lane entries raising concern amongst the drivers and the new asphalt not customized for draining
heavy water, the track conditions remained treacherous under sheets of relentless rain.
And given such circumstances, Heidfeld stood by Whiting's judgement to place safety before schedule. “Charlie is not in an easy position. Of course, everyone [primarily television audiences] wants to see a race and we have to have a show, but he is looking
at safety as well. From where he sits compared to what we see is very different, so for him to make a decision is very difficult. I thought it was a great decision to start behind the safety car, as it gave us chance to see the visibility.”
“It's not very often we start behind the safety car and then it is red flagged, so my compliments to him – I think he did the right job.”
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