David Coulthard, Red Bull, Vietnam, 2018

F1 confirms Vietnamese Grand Prix to join calendar in 2020

2020 F1 season

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A new race in Vietnam will appear on the 2020 F1 calendar, Formula One Management has announced.

The race will take place on a 5.6 kilometre street track to be built in Hanoi, designed by Hermann Tilke.

F1 CEO Chase Carey will take part in a ceremony with Hanoi city leaders this evening. “We have talked about developing new destination cities to broaden the appeal of Formula 1 and the Vietnamese Grand Prix is a realisation of that ambition,” said Carey.

The race is the first new event to be added to the F1 calendar since Liberty Media took over in charge of F1 in late 2016.

“We are proud to be hosting the Formula 1 Vietnam Grand Prix, and showcasing the city of Hanoi to the world with its special combination of ancient and moden beauty from 2020,” said City of Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung.

“It’s a further demonstration of Vietnam’s ability, as one of the fastest growing economies in the world to host events on a global scale and attract tourism to the country.

“It provides an opportunity for inward investment to Vietnam and importantly to bring the exciting wheel to wheel racing of Formula 1 to the people of Vietnam.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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43 comments on “F1 confirms Vietnamese Grand Prix to join calendar in 2020”

  1. It looks terrible. Love Vietnam, love the people, but that track is awful. Such long straights. When will F1 learn?

    1. I guess they are going for that Baku feel.

      1. a Baku feel is not necessarily the worst thing in the world. I would prefer a shorter track though.

    2. @hahostolze I disagree. The layout looks quite good, and although at 1.5 km the straight might be a tad bit long, we might actually get some really good races and overtaking here as a result. Due to the long straight, teams will have to run lower downforce configurations, which will only make the esses even more challenging. I’m still yet to see exactly how wide the track is going to be, but it seems promising so far in my opinion.

      1. Absolutely sgree, the track looks great. Not a 90 degree corner in sight. The long straights force the teams to run less downforce and that makes for better racing. Plus, the handling section of the track, the esses, is at the end of the lap, so the tires will be strained by then and so S3 in qually should be very interesting. Great track layout, even better than Baku.

      2. also disagree with @hahostolze. I am liking what I am seeing. Overtaking opportunities, the long straight will provide a good opportunity for some slipstreaming back and forth. There is a quick S section for the drivers “a la Suzuka”. Awesome city and country, whats not to like!

        1. It looks exciting but I find it a shame that so many sections are reminiscent of other tracks on the calendar. Why not try something new?

    3. Indeed! More corners and less straights please.

  2. From what I can see this is going to be less Baku, more Valencia and Sochi. Maybe you could throw Mexico City into the mix too. The reason I say that is the circuit doesn’t appear to particularly follow the current street pattern – indeed, much of the circuit doesn’t exist and will be built on undeveloped land. So, more ‘urban circuit’ than street circuit it is then. I very much look forward to seeing it.

    1. Self amendment: it’s 50/50 Street track / Urban Circuit. The start/finish straight and the esses section behind it will all be brand new, and then the massive 1.5k straight and two shorter straights running parallel with it are part of the existing road network.

  3. I still hold my judgment on whether this race actually was to come reality or not as we’ve seen how the case of the proposed Miami GP has panned out so far. It can go either way with temporary tracks although this venue doesn’t seem too street track-like based on the surrounding area in the virtual images given out. I wonder when it would take place then? Early (March-April) or late (September-October-November) into the season? The temperatures are pretty similar throughout all of these above mentioned months.

    1. According to the official F1 site it’s April 2020

      1. @piotrzukowski: At least it’s not April 1st, 2020, right? That would be too cute, even for Liberty.

        On that 1.5Km straight will drivers be allowed to engage cruise control and live chat with fans on the F1 app?

      2. @piotrzukowski Yes, but based on what information/source? I mean the ”Let’s take a look at what we can expect come April 2020” paragraph in this article: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-vietnam-street-circuit.2BvFoOV82kcqi88y0mMsUU.html

        Is it based on official information from a different source or merely an assumption by F1.com and or the person behind the article posted on F1.com? It could be either way as temperature-wise like I pointed out there isn’t too much of a difference between the early and the late-season flyaway phases. I’ll wait for a more reliable information concerning the potential date/slot on the schedule.

        1. ‘for more’

  4. They should have made it a figure of 8 track but unlike in Japan have the cars crossing over on the same piece of track.. In true Hanoi style :)

    1. In the style of the FlatOut game series :P

    2. Hi Hans – I’m sure you’re aware your namesake had a horrifying crash at the similarly configured AVUS ‘circuit’ in 1959…

      1. Indeed! I was lucky to survive that one ;)

        Always impressed by the wealth of knowledge on these threads

      1. I haven’t lived!

  5. We may see plenty of overtakes but we won’t see good, interesting overtakes with any skill or risk involved at all. I’ll rather go outside and watch the local highway. Plenty more overtakes there, of the same kind, but as a free and all and every day/night show. Actually, during the rush-hour I’ll see more skillful overtakes and dive-bombs than in Baku or Hanoi.

  6. designed by Hermann Tilke.

    Great, another ho hum circuit with long straits. Thanks Hermannnnnnnnnnnn.

    1. What is with F1 and Tilke for so long – is nobody else capable of offering alternative ideas…?
      Or must we assume Tilke bought a life-time ‘contract’ from Bernie…??

      1. We all know how F1 is ‘resistant’ to corruption and quid pro quo economics. That’s why it must be Tilke. He obviously knows how things are done in F1, even if he’s never seen an F1 race in his life (I don’t know, but I have such a feeling). No surprises here. F1 is all for equal opportunities, meritocracy, respect for the fans or true racing and sportsmanship. To me F1 actually looks like some medieval enterprise lost in time and space. I can’t wait to watch Stroll – Bill Gates Jr. battle on the straights of Baku and Hanoi, or racy Abu Dhabi and Singapore in 2021. On pay-per-view of course, with tons of ads included possibly, and approx 12 cars on the grid (three top teams plus their B squads).

    2. It’s stupendously ridiculous. Even if you’re a fan of Tilke’s work, presumably one exists somewhere, there’s no justification for not allowing someone else to design a track and try some new ideas.

    3. @careypatrick
      More plagiarised by Herman Tilke.
      According to the F1 website…

      – tight Turns 1 and 2 modelled on the opening sequence at the Nurburgring.

      – section out of Turn 12 will weave through the barriers in a manner similar to the climb out of Sainte Devote in Monaco.

      – Turns 16 to 19 – similar to the Esses at Suzuka

      Originally is dead!
      Imitation is a form of flattery.

  7. Looks great!

    1. Long straight, brake heavily, go around a corner slowly. Repeat 4 times. Do an ‘S’ wiggle at the end. Repeat the same for a few dozen laps. No, it doesn’t look great.

  8. I think the track looks really dull.

    Biggest question however is which existing race do we lose in order for them to add this one?

    1. @stefmeister Silverstone very possibly.

  9. I like the fact they’ve tried to reduce the penalty of taking a pit-stop by cutting the last and first corners, but I’m not sure the pit entry is going to be much quicker than taking the last corner as it is.

    I expect there’ll be action when rejoining the track from the pits which could be interesting.

  10. Oh joy, another maggots/becketts rip-off.

  11. I wonder how much run off there will be going into that second loop on that second straight because you know they love a run off. But if it’s going straight back into the track it could cause a few issues. As a track, I’m not too excited about it.

  12. #NoMoreStreetCircuits

  13. For anyone interested here is a google maps link that marks the existing roads that will form part of the track

    Map

    1. @Martin. Thanks for the link, it helps a lot. I was a bit surprised to see that the long back-to-back straight leading to the most southerly roundabout is in fact a tree-lined shopping street with flower beds and gardens in the middle. Doesn’t look awfully wide here to be honest, so the trees will probably have to go at this end of the loop but it broadens out considerably towards the stadium. Shame it’s all so blasted flat.

  14. The next track is going to be a 20 car drag race up and down the salt flats whilst stands of occasionally-cheering fans are sold overpriced snacks and Sky contracts.

  15. Liberty Media didn’t do anything.

    Bernie did the groundwork for this years ago.

  16. Not another street circuit :(
    % of decent races at street circuits must be below 10.
    Oh well, I guess I won’t be able to see anything but the highlights, so do I care?

  17. What a shame it doesn’t go round the lake with the shot down B52 in…..

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