From GMM

After expressing doubts about the inaugural event less than two weeks ago, Bernie Ecclestone now insists the Korean grand prix "is on".

The FIA's Charlie Whiting is due to tour the Yeongam venue the day after Sunday's Japanese grand prix, but F1 chief executive Ecclestone is confident the venue will host the race in two weeks.

"I've been in touch, I've seen photographs and the top layer of the track has been laid. They will pass the inspection," he said.

The Daily Express report, however, said many of the circuit's buildings and spectator facilities will not be finished.

Ecclestone also said on Saturday he is only now waiting for organisers of a Russian grand prix in 2014 to sign a contract.

A report in the Kommersant daily said the F1 chief executive has agreed terms for a race in the resort city Sochi. An official in the deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak's office confirmed the receipt of the contract from Ecclestone.

"The document has still not been signed but when the appropriate person from Russia signs it, I will sign it the next day," Ecclestone is quoted as saying.

The only potential stumbling block is the annual promotion fee, apparently comparable to the approximately $40 million paid by Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Elsewhere in the news, a new circuit in the north of Spain, Circuito de Navarra, has received a T1 homologation by the FIA, making it eligible for formula one testing.

Meanwhile, organisers of the 2012 US grand prix are facing a race against time to obtain planning permission to begin work on the Austin circuit.

Construction is scheduled to begin in December, but the local American Statesman newspaper reports that planning authorities have prepared a four-page list of concerns about the proposed project.

The media report said the Texas project is therefore "some distance from satisfying the government bureaucrats" who must agree before the groundbreaking can occur.