22/04/2013
NEWS STORY
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The day after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, further establishing his lead in the 2013 title fight, Sebastian Vettel visited the track due to host Russia's first Grand Prix.
One of the first to visit the site of the proposed New Jersey race, today Vettel became the first F1 driver to visit the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, which is scheduled to feature on the 2014 calendar.
After being shown around the proposed paddock by the deputy governor of the Sochi region of Krasnodar, Nikolai Buturlakin, Vettel took to the track in an Infiniti road car, accompanied by David Coulthard, driving part of the proposed track before visiting other parts of the Olympic site with officials from the Russian Government and Formula Sochi, before taking part in a press conference.
"It is a great privilege to be the first Formula One driver to visit the new venue," said Vettel. "I can already see it will be a fun circuit to drive in a Formula One car and the rest of the venue is very impressive.
"Of course you need to drive the full track to understand all of its details," he continued, "but according to the plans it will be an interesting and complex circuit."
The 3.33 mile (5.9 km) Sochi circuit uses access roads for the Winter Olympics which take place next February, Russian President Vladimir Putin claiming it to be a prime example of Olympic legacy at work.