New Formula 1-grade tracks planned in South Korea and China

In brief

Incheon seeks F1 race

The South Korean city Incheon, which borders its capital Seoul, is hoping to lure F1 back for the first time since 2013 with a street race according to Korean news agency Yonhap. Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok made representations to Formula One Management during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

“Incheon is the best place to host F1, as it has a transportation network such as Incheon Airport and Incheon Port and many luxury accommodations,” he said. “We will begin full-scale discussions to host F1 Incheon.”

He hopes to agree a five-deal to host the race beginning in 2026 or 2027. F1’s last spell in South Korea started in 2010 when it held the first of four races at the Korea International Circuit in Jeonnam.

Guangdong plans F1 track

A second Formula 1-grade circuit is being planned in the city of Guangdong, GD Today reports. It lies around 1,200 kilometres south-west of Shanghai, which the Chinese Grand Prix will be held next week.

Plans for the track were revealed in the Guangdong Province 2024 Key Construction Project Plan. The circuit will form part of a park for international motorsports. Guangdong is investing 1 trillion yuan (£109 million) per year in regional development projects.

Ricciardo and Bottas test at Suzuka

Rain affected the first of two days of tyre testing Pirelli arranged at Suzuka< yesterday, so Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas took the opportunity to test the performance of the manufacturer’s latest intermediate rubber without heating blankets.

After covering 33 laps between them in wet conditions, the pair went on to log a total of 239 laps. Bottas will continue to test tomorrow while Yuki Tsunoda is due to take over in the RB.

No Malukas at Long Beach

McLaren have confirmed David Malukas has not recovered quickly enough from the wrist injury he incurred during the off-season to drive for them in next week’s race at Long Beach. With Callum Ilott unable to continue as substitute due to his clashing commitment in the World Endurance Championship, the team is considering options for a replacement. Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire is understood to be one candidate.

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Ilott will continue to drive for them in testing for the Indianapolis 500 today and tomorrow, rejoining their regular drivers Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi.

Legge back for Indy 500

Katherine Legge will compete in the Indianapolis 500 again this year, having returned to the race in 2023 for the first time in a decade. She will drive Coyne’s number 51 car.

Fatal accident in Catalunya paddock

A fatal accident occured in the paddock of the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain yesterday as preparations began for the Four Hours of Barcelona event.

Proton Huber Competition team manager Gerhard Freundorfer was involved in an incident involving his team’s truck. Despite prompt attention by medical staff at the circuit, Freundorfer could not be saved.

“On behalf of the Circuit we deeply regret this accident and would like to extend our deepest condolences to Gerhard’s family, friends and the entire paddock of the European Le Mans Series,” said the track’s managing director Josep Lluis Santamaria.

Links

Motor racing links of interest:

Van Eerd charged in fraud investigation (Sportscar365)

'Former Racing Team Nederland owner/driver Frits van Eerd has been charged with nonadministrative corruption and forgery of documents in a large-scale fraud investigation by Dutch authorities, the country’s public prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday.'

Hadjar on his 2024 turnaround, race-winning pace and title hopes (Formula 2)

'We obviously have the three days of testing before (Imola), which will be the most important days of the season because you can try stuff you can't during the race weekends, so we’ll try to make the most of it. The goal will be to arrive at Imola with a stronger baseline and a better understanding of the car and the tyres.'

FIA joins forces with UNESCO and Peace and Sport to mark International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (FIA)

'Representing the FIA and discussing the crucial work of the UAOA campaign, Erin (Bourke) highlighted the role of sporting bodies and social media companies to protect athletes in the face of the widespread abuse that many now face on their platforms, alongside the importance of building a coalition to better understand the issues at hand and fight them more effectively together.'

Formula 1 world champion Scheckter gives me a tour of his F1 car collection (RM Sotheby's via YouTube)

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Social media

Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:

|@DanielRicciardo covered 106 laps of Suzuka in testing for Pirelli today.

That's more than twice as many as he officially covered in the entire #JapaneseGP weekend after sitting out first practice for @ayumuiwasa_cars and crashing on the first lap of the race.#F1 #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/YNQrbHW6Jx

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 9, 2024

So what’s the progress on @CaterhamF1 CT05#1? Weeks rather than months now away from the first drive. I still receive a lot of criticism over the engine not being a V8 (it wouldn’t fit) or a Power Unit (£2M) however I always ask what engine they run in their own F1 car! pic.twitter.com/q4yECp5KtD

— CATERHAM F1 RENOVATION (@KevTs) April 8, 2024

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• Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory

Comment of the day

Did the sprint race format, which gives teams less practice and less time to set their cars up, lead to more exciting grands prix in 2023? @Red-Andy isn’t convinced:

Baku was a borefest and RaceFans’ lowest-rated grand prix of 2023. The biggest intrigue in Austria came from the numerous track limit violations. Belgium had nothing of interest – even the inevitable arrival of rain did nothing to improve matters.

Qatar was a very strange race due to the tyre situation, but that had nothing to do with the sprint format. Austin was close at the front, but Verstappen had brake issues and Hamilton was running illegally low, so again nothing to do with the format. Interlagos was most notable for its disrupted early laps and the Alonso-Perez battle at the end, which would again be a stretch to attribute to the format.

In my view the best races of 2023 were Singapore, Las Vegas and Zandvoort, none of which were sprint rounds.
@Red-Andy

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Roberttty and Browny!

On this day in motorsport

• Born today in 1929: Mike Hawthorn, who became Formula 1 world champion for Ferrari in 1958