Tilke backs Grand Prix near St Petersburg

Formula 1 track designer Hermann Tilke says that the Igora Drive circuit near St Petersburg is “certainly capable” of hosting a Grand Prix after tumours that the Russian GP could be relocated from the Sochi Autodrom.

The Russian GP has been on the calendar since 2014 when the Winter Olympics took place in Sochi and president Vladimir Putin has backed the plans for a circuit to be built just outside St Petersburg, but no negotiations have been made.
 
Tilke believes that Igora Drive, which hosts a round of DTM next year, is already set up for F1 and can have plenty of opportunity for overtaking.
 
“[Igora] is certainly capable of hosting Formula 1,” Tilke told Russian news agency Tass.

“I can’t say anything concrete, because a lot of politics is woven into it.

 “A lot of different interests collide.

“But Igora Drive is an amazing project. It is one of our best tracks.

“There are no mountains as high as in Sochi. But it is close to St Petersburg – all the beauty is there.

“The uniqueness of the track in St Petersburg is the configuration, with fast corners and elevation changes and the possibility for a lot of overtaking.”