Abu Dhabi: With most of the recent new venues for Formula One races opening in the Middle East and in Asian countries, drivers sounded positive about their new experiences.
In reply to a question from Gulf News on the impact of the new venues in recent years during yesterday's FIA press conference, Heikki Kovalainen said he was enjoying the "warm" races.
The Team Lotus driver said: "I have a good answer for this one. I much prefer to be at these kinds of warm races because the golf courses are fantastic. I would happily stay near Bangkok and just race from there; the golf courses are great.
"I arrived here on Monday and I've already played four rounds of golf, so I'm happy for this direction," said Kovalainen, the Finnish driver.
Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Beumi said: "I think it's good to try some new circuits, some new countries to visit. I think it's definitely a positive to come to these races and I think what we experience here is completely different."
Commenting on the Yas Marina Circuit, which was unveiled in 2009, the Swiss driver said: "It's the best infrastructure in the world and it's definitely quite nice to be racing here, starting the race when it's still daylight and then we finish in the dark. I definitely think it's a positive."
The dissenting voice came from HRT driver Vitantonio Liuzzi who said he preferred to race in Europe. "Maybe it's much colder in Europe but I prefer the European races. For sure, we have a different kind of circuit here in Asia, it's completely different, much more modern, beautiful circuits but I still love the historical circuits like Spa, Monza and the European races," said the Italian.
Force India driver Paul Di Resta said that it would still take some time for the junior categories in the new countries to compare favourably with those from Europe and other venues in the West.
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