Russia’s new Sochi Formula One circuit has been cleared to host the country’s first grand prix in October after a rave review from the sport’s governing body.

The FIA technical head Charlie Whiting, who conducts a detailed inspection of all new circuits, visited the Black Sea resort this week and said he was impressed by what he had seen.

“The circuit is in good condition and – yes – it will be issued with a licence,” local organisers quoted the Briton as saying.

“Everything has been done according to plans – the kerbs are good, the verges, the guardrails, the walls – everything is in an extremely good condition.

“I can say without hesitation that the circuit is ready 60 days in advance, which is very rare really.”

Whiting indicated the inspection, before this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, was likely to be his last before the travelling Formula One circus arrives for the October 12 race around the park used for the Winter Olympics.

The grand prix, a showcase event for Russian President Vladimir Putin, will be the 16th round of the championship but is already controversial following the crisis in Ukraine and downing of a Malaysian airliner last month.

Formula One teams have ruled out any boycott of the race, unless there is government advice not to go, while the sport’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has made clear the event will go ahead as planned.

Whiting focused purely on the technical and construction issues and hailed what had been done since the Olympics ended in February.

“I was very impressed when I walked in to the Race Control building. It really does look ex-tremely impressive,” he said.

“Fundamentally, all Race Control buildings are the same, but in this particular case it’s been done with very latest high-tech equipment.

“The images we see at race control are absolutely superb.”