Last-minute fixes keep McLaren on track

London: They are unlikely to have the fastest cars on the track this weekend but McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have been given some small measure of encouragement by the designer of the new Korean International Circuit.

German architect Hermann Tilke predicts that Sunday's race will throw up a few surprises because of "very, very slippery" conditions.

Tilke was busy overseeing last-minute tweaks to the venue 482 kilometres south of Seoul Wednesday. Grid boxes were being painted on the start-finish straight and men in hard hats were working furiously to install seating in the temporary grandstands.

Yet far from being concerned that something might go wrong, Tilke said the 11th-hour nature of the build-up would likely result in an exciting and unpredictable race.

"The only problem the new surface will cause —and to me it is not actually a problem — is in terms of grip," Tilke said.

"A lack of grip should not be a problem because we have the best drivers in the world here. Plus, it will be the same conditions for everybody. There will not be a problem that the track will break up. "I think on Friday [during practice] the track surface will be very, very slippery because it is brand new. That means you will probably see some spinning.

It has emerged that some teams will not pay the full amount for their hospitality buildings since they are not finished yet. But Tilke insisted there would be no major problems with the infrastructure.

Surprises

"But maybe here and there, there might be some small things that are not working. And because the track is not tested, there will probably be a few surprises as well."

Surprises are good, at least for the British title challengers. Having been comprehensively outpaced by Red Bull in the last two races in Singapore and Japan, the unpredictable nature of the weekend should in theory be good news for McLaren. Anything to swing the momentum back in their favour.

Hamilton has seen a three-point championship lead morph into a 28-point deficit to Red Bull's Mark Webber over the past month, while Button is a further three points adrift. Both must finish ahead of the Australian on Sunday to stand any realistic chance of winning the title.