Hanoi begins construction of F1 racetrack

The map of F1 Vietnam Grand Prix Hanoi racetrack

The Hanoi’s People Committee, together with Vietnam Grand Prix LLC (established in 2018 by Vingroup’s subsidiary VinFast Manufacturing and Trading Co., Ltd.), held the ground-breaking ceremony of the F1 racetrack in the morning of March 20 in South Tu Liem district, Hanoi. Earlier this month, chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung approved the 1:500 detailed planning of F1 Vietnam Grand Prix Hanoi on the land area of 88.09 hectares.

The circuit lies in the campus of My Dinh Sports Complex and the public roads of Le Duc Tho, Le Quang Dao, Ho Tung Mau, and Thang Long Avenue.

Inspired by The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the Grand Prix Hanoi racetrack is designed by German group Tilke, in collaboration with Formula One Group, featuring 22 challenging turns and a special 1,500-metre straight line. With the world’s longest straight F1 racing line, racers could even reach the speed of 335 kilometres per hour.

Formula One Group believes the F1 Vietnam Grand Prix Hanoi will be an exciting race, with the most unique racetrack that is a combination of a newly-built circuit and regular street roads, which is a novelty after F1 races in Morocco and Singapore.

"It i's fantastic for the development of the motorsport in Vietnam and in the region, I really hope that soon there will also be facilities to host cart racing or drifting events," Jean Todt, president of the governing body of motor sport FIA, said at the ceremony.

Todt was surprised when finding out that Vietnam wanted to host the F1 race as it had never hosted an FIA race before.

"But I believed in the success of F1 in Hanoi," he added.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung expressed his wish for continued support from Todt to complete the racetrack in April 2020 as scheduled. "Hanoi wants to host more motor races in the future," Chung said, adding that Honda Vietnam had proposed a 150cc race in the city, though the detailed plan and schedule has yet to be revealed.