Work begins on Hanoi track for Vietnam GP

The first images of the new permanent facility for the Vietnam Grand Prix, set to make its debut on the Formula 1 calendar in 2020, have been exclusively revealed in Autosport sister magazine F1 Racing.

Computer-generated images of the pit building display how the new facility will look. Situated in an area 20 minutes from downtown Hanoi, in the Nam Tu Liem district, work is being undertaken to clear an area and construct a brand-new permanent pit and paddock.

Two-thirds of the track will use public roads already in place, while the high-speed twisty final section of the lap and the start/finish straight are being built from the ground up. The circuit is characterised by wide long straights – the longest of which is 1.5km – connected by roundabouts into long braking zones and tight hairpins. The intention is to create a street circuit with overtaking opportunities more akin to Baku than Monaco.

“There was a close cooperation with the team at Formula 1 and the organisers at Hanoi to design the circuit,” says Carsten Tilke, the managing director of Tilke who is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. They had a lot of input and we had many discussions about how we could create a good circuit, not only from a driving perspective but to offer a lot of overtaking too.

“Of course, we are fixed to some given streets – which are basically the straights – but through simulation tools we have been able to create the best track possible.”

The corner at the end of the long 1.5km straight will feature grandstands on both sides of the track to create what Tilke describes as a “stadium” section. The plans for the track are based on a spectator attendance of up to 100,000.

The section Tilke is most excited about is the final part of the lap, which allowed his design team to be free-thinking as there are no existing roads forcing compromises. He describes it as very technical, as well as high-speed, with little runoff and no margin for error.

“The whole track has a nice combination of fast corners and long straights, so it will be difficult to find a good set-up for the teams,” he says. “Our simulations have shown it will offer good racing and plenty of overtaking options. It will be difficult to get a good lap time as it will be very easy to make a mistake, so hopefully the drivers will like the challenge.”

Tilke’s architects and engineers have 18 months to get the track finished from scratch, and in early April five engineers moved to Hanoi to work full-time on the project. “The design and planning process is quite far down the line,” said Tilke. “Almost everything is ready, but the construction has only just started. The groundbreaking ceremony was in late March and now we have to get a lot of machinery on site.

“We have been given until the start of next season for Hanoi to be ready.”