Nature is taking on Vietnam’s deserted $600m F1 Hanoi road circuit

Earlier than the world had thought of the phrase “lockdown” or the considered internet hosting a household quiz on Zoom had crossed anybody’s thoughts, Formulation 1 had lofty plans for 2020. The season was set to see F1 return to the Netherlands for the primary time in 35 years and the sequence was planning its inaugural race in Vietnam.

When Covid-19 hit, nonetheless, these plans had been thrown out the window. Whereas F1 did ultimately return to Zandvoort within the Netherlands a yr later, the sequence by no means raced on the $600million monitor that was constructed for the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix.

The grand prix was introduced by Liberty Media again in 2018 as the primary model new race to be introduced in underneath F1’s new homeowners. A monitor structure was designed in collaboration with famed designer Hermann Tilke, which made use of metropolis streets in addition to purpose-built sections that would later be opened to the general public.

Building on these bespoke sections started in March 2019 and the monitor was signed off lower than a yr later – simply in time for the Vietnamese Grand Prix’s debut on the F1 calendar in April 2020.

That by no means got here, nonetheless, and the monitor nonetheless hasn’t discovered a spot on F1’s calendar after Hanoi Individuals’s Committee Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung, who was one of many occasion’s key stakeholders, was arrested on corruption costs. The fees weren’t associated to the occasion, however nonetheless solid a darkish cloud over the prospect of a Vietnamese race.

In consequence, Vietnam hasn’t appeared on the F1 schedule, however the 3.5-mile monitor in Hanoi continues to be there. The pit buildings that had been constructed for the grand prix stay standing, and the paths that 1000’s of F1 followers would have walked to seek out their seats are all nonetheless there.

Now, YouTube channel Seaside Workplace has snuck contained in the derelict racetrack to see how its fared these previous 5 years, and issues don’t look too fairly.

Pristine landscaping across the monitor has begun to rewild, and illuminations over paths and roads have began to deteriorate because of a scarcity of upkeep. Potholes have opened up in tarmac sections as crops develop by means of the cracks, and highway markings to spotlight twists and turns within the monitor have long-since light.

Reasonably surprisingly, the grid containers on the beginning line look virtually nearly as good as new, with the brilliant white and yellow markings nonetheless exhibiting the place the vehicles ought to have lined up on 5 April, 2020.

From a distance, the grand pit constructing seems to be equally well-kept, however because the footage pans in nearer the indicators of decay are clear. Gray marks drip down the fences and balustrades that line the seating areas that ought to have hosted all method of VIPs and invited company, and the end isn’t fairly as polished as we’ve come to count on from F1.

The landscaped grounds, paddock constructing and a brief part of monitor are all that stay of the undertaking. Town streets that will have been commandeered are nonetheless utilized by commuters and supply drivers navigating Hanoi, underneath the shadow of towering lights that ought to have illuminated the monitor.

The movie is a enjoyable dive right into a monitor that has its place in F1’s historical past books with out having ever hosted a grand prix. 5 years after the race ought to have taken place, the closest we acquired to racing in Hanoi was on this planet of esports, because it was included within the 2020 Formulation 1 recreation and featured in F1’s personal esports league that yr.