Mercedes GP hope to make a step forward at Korea
The Korean Grand Prix, Round 16 of the 2011 Formula One World Championship, will take place on Sunday 16 October at the Korea International Circuit in the South Jeolla region. Just seven days after the Japanese Grand Prix, the Yeongam track will host its second race after making its debut on the calendar in 2010.
Michael Schumacher: "Visiting Korea for the first time last season was an interesting experience, and I enjoyed learning the new Yeongam track. It's a very impressive facility, and the track has enough challenges to make it enjoyable to drive. We also had a good result there as I equalled my best result of the season, finishing the race in fourth place. We have enjoyed some encouraging race finishes since the mid-season break, having worked hard to improve our performance. I hope we can carry that trend through to Korea this weekend and then to the remaining races."
Nico Rosberg: "I'm looking forward to racing in Korea: I really enjoy the track and, for the first race last year, it was certainly a full house spectator-wise. I'm certainly aiming for a more successful weekend than last year, when I was taken out in an accident with Webber on the second lap at racing speeds after the Safety Car came in. We learned in Japan that our performance has taken a small step forward since Singapore. I hope we can make the next one this weekend."
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "Having completed the weekend in Suzuka, the team has now packed up and headed to South Korea for the second leg of the season's final set of double-header races. The Korea International Circuit made its debut on the calendar last year, and the venue combines impressive facilities with an interesting and demanding track layout for the drivers and engineers. We delivered a strong race performance in Suzuka after not the smoothest of weekends, so our focus in Korea will be on getting the most of our current technical package and continuing our recent run of results."
Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "The Korea International Circuit at Yeongam presents a very complete challenge for the cars and the drivers: long straights in the opening sector, and then a much tighter second half of the circuit, which includes some blind corners and tricky, narrow sections between concrete walls. This contributes to making the average lap speed one of the lowest of the year for a permanent circuit, at around 205kph. Last year's inaugural race saw very challenging weather conditions and four Safety Car deployments; although we hope for better conditions this year, there remains a reasonable chance of Safety Car periods due to the limited run-off areas. Indeed, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Safety Car has been deployed in each of the past four races. We enjoyed a stronger weekend in Suzuka and delivered quite a competitive team performance. Our challenge will be to perform at this level on a very different type of circuit and, as we have managed at three of the last four races, to finish in the points among the top three teams."
