Though Korea's grand prix will take place on a reclaimed swamp, the new and unusual smell to F1 drivers will be that of freshly laid tarmac.

The Korean Grand Prix at Yeongam will certainly be one to remember. The race, which finally got the go-ahead on 12 October after an inspection by FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting, will take place on one of the most freshly laid surfaces F1 cars have ever raced on.

Nick Heidfeld has predicted the surface will be "oily" because it hasn't had time for the elements to cure it, but is also worrying that it might break up. As we have seen from previous grands prix, the downforce and suction generated by F1 cars is enough to lift heavy, cast-iron drain covers from a road and it will be the same on the vulnerable new asphalt. Certainly the track conditions are likely to change quickly over the three days. That's apart from kerbing coming loose etc etc.

So this weekend will be a massive voyage of discovery for all concerned; new track, new surface, new fans and no real data for Bridgestone to work from. Certainly if the Red Bull drivers have been learning the circuit from the Red Bull video simulation running on the PF1 website they'll be confused. All the planned buildings and marina complex have yet to materialise. Only the pit buildings are there.

As Hermann the Germann has said: "Parts of the track are to be like a city track - but without a city at the moment. That means it is narrow, and everything is close to the circuit. Other parts of it are permanent with fast corners, and I think it will be interesting to drive."

The oily, slippery track is worst news of all for the Red Bull team, because they have the most to lose from an unexpected exit from the race. McLaren have the most to gain because they are furthest back. We are getting into the situation now that the kind of get-out-of-the-way-or-we-crash move Mark Webber pulled on Lewis Hamilton at Singapore is unthinkable. Webbo has to start playing the percentages when overtaking and being overtaken.

Similarly Sebastian Vettel has to watch himself because he's just not very good at that kind of thing. And let's not forget that we have some wild cards in the form of Robert Kubica, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa. Kubica and Rosberg are on good form and can adapt to new circuits quickly. Whether or not the Renault has the sheer horsepower to cope with Korea's straights remains to be seen. Massa has a strong incentive to do well following the veiled Montezemolo threats and will no doubt shine at Interlagos, but if the track gets slippy don't expect him to be close to Alonso.

If you add a layer of nerves on top of the uncertainty about the track, then you have the perfect recipe for a dramatic race.

So much has been going wrong for Lewis Hamilton recently that it's surprising he's still in the hunt for the World Championship and the Korean GP would be the perfect opportunity to bounce back. It's also a race where we probably won't see the top five finish in the top five - as we did in Japan.

For Jenson Button it's more like win-or-bust. Everyone harks back to the season where Kimi Raikkonen won even though he was 17 points behind going into the last two races. But that freak win was built on epic McLaren incompetence and the fact that you could only score points to 8th place. This season, with points going down to 9th and 10th places, if you're 24 points ahead of everyone going into the final grand prix in Abu Dhabi, it shouldn't be too difficult to target a 9th place finish to clinch it.

Funnily enough Mark Webber might not be too worried to finish behind the McLarens, providing he is ahead of his two strongest challengers Vettel and Alonso.

As for the rest of the grid, Nick Heidfeld will want to put in a strong showing against Kamui Kobayashi to enhance his job prospects for 2011 and Liuzzi and Petrov will want to demonstrate some glimmer of form. (Though if we continue the theory started in last race's Winners and Losers - that Petrov is like the kid at school who is trying to get expelled - presumably this race he'll select reverse gear for the start).

Under-pressure Nico Hulkenberg will have to pull something out of the bag to retain his Williams seat. If GP2 ace Pastor Maldonado really has $10m of Venezuelan money to gift the Williams team, then it's probably a lost cause already.

As for Virgin Racing's Lucas DiGrassi, just getting to the grid in one piece will be an improvement on Japan. In Suzuka Lucas joined the pantheon of F1's greatest blunderers by having an accident at 130R before the start. He joined the likes of David Coulthard, who clanged into the Adelaide pitlane barriers while leading a race for Williams (problem with an over-rev, eh, Dave?)

With only half the tickets sold so far, the Korean GP may not be so eagerly awaited by the crowds, but the global TV audience should be in for some fun and games.

As somebody in the PF1 office suggested - if there's trouble with the circuit during the race, they might not put out the Safety Car. They might just send out a tarmac-laying vehicle. And try keeping your brakes up to temperature behind one of those...

The addition of a brand new circuit to the F1 calendar is always an exciting prospect and this weekend’s inaugural Korean Grand Prix in Yeongam certainly has all the ingredients for an entertaining race.

It’s an anti-clockwise track with a diverse mix of corners, long straights, and genuine overtaking opportunities. But what are the challenges faced by the teams when getting to grips with a new venue and how do they prepare for the unknown? Renault give their take on the matter…

“Our initial preparations began many months ago when the FIA provided all the teams with a detailed circuit map,” explains chief race engineer Alan Permane. “From this we were able to create a digital representation of the track and then asked our drivers to add what they believe to be the correct racing line.”

With a virtual lap in place, the team has spent the last month running virtual simulations to get a head start on the set-up required for Yeongam. “The simulations allow us to assess the best aero levels, suspension settings, ride heights and even sensitivity to fuel load,” confirms Alan. “There are lots of unknowns, such as the grip level of the tarmac, surface bumps, or the camber of the road, but we still have a fairly good idea of the set-up we will need before we arrive at the track.”

So what have the simulations revealed so far? Well, the projected lap time is 1m 44s and the cars will be on full throttle for 55 percent of the lap and on the brakes for 20 percent. The average speed will be 195 km/h, with a top speed of 315 km/h on the 1.15 km straight between turns two and three. As for the corners, turn eight is probably the quickest of the lap with an apex speed of 235 km/h, while turn three is the slowest corner, expected to be taken at just 65 km/h.

This level of preparation means that the engineering approach to Friday practice won’t need to change massively from the norm, although the drivers may run more laps in FP1 to learn the track. For the engineers, one of the main priorities will be determining the gear ratios, especially for second, third and fourth gears. Although the ratios for FP1 have already been selected, it will make for a busy lunch hour in the garage if changes are needed for FP2.

In terms of the aero set-up, it won’t be far off the settings used at Suzuka: “The downforce needed will be on the high side and we plan to run with the same wing package we used in Suzuka,” confirms Permane. “There are a couple of high-speed corners, such as turns seven and eight, which remind me of turns five and six at Sepang. They involve a quick change of direction and we expect turn seven will be flat, while turn eight will be almost flat. It will also be important to maximise the F-duct for the long straights because there are a couple of good overtaking opportunities into turns one and three.”

Another significant characteristic of the lap is the number of low-speed, technical corners, such as the sequence from turns four to six or turns 15 and 16 towards the end of the lap. Getting the right balance through these corners will be critical for a quick lap.

“For these corners you need a nimble car with a good turn-in and good traction,” says Permane. “It’s important the car works well in these sorts of corner because it’s where the most significant lap time gains can be found.”