Vietnam ‘strong candidate’ to join F1 race in 2024

There are chances that Vietnam will be a host in the 2024 Formula One World Championship calendar, according to Formula 1 news site Grandprix.

F1 Group CEO Stefano Domenicali has met officials from Hanoi and Vietnam to discuss the possibility of hosting a race here next year, Grandprix reported. The news site said Vietnam and South Africa are « strong candidates » to join the 2024 F1 calendar.

« The chances of the Vietnamese Grand Prix being revived have suddenly gone up, with news that Stefano Domenicali made a stop in Hanoi on his way down to Australia. »

The Hanoi People’s Committee has yet to confirm the news.

The highly anticipated Vietnamese Grand Prix, the very first F1 race in Vietnam, was supposed be held on the Hanoi Street Circuit, a temporary track next to the My Dinh National Stadium, in April 2020, but was postponed due to Covid.

In March 2021, the race got delayed indefinitely before Hanoi officially canceled the event.

At the moment, most of the infrastructure for organizing the race in Hanoi has been dismantled, and three plots of land with a total area of nearly 300,000 square meters, including assets, have been returned by the Vietnam Grand Prix Co. to the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports.

The 2023 F1 season has 23 races, with Singapore being the only Southeast Asian host, on September 17. According to Forbes, the cost of organizing an F1 race and maintaining the track every year can exceed $100 million.

Grandprix said South Africa also wants to host F1 for the first time in 31 years, at the Kyalami Circuit, near Johannesburg. The country has agreed to pay $50 million for organizing the race in 2024 and the total cost could go up to $250 million.

By Xuan Binh – VnExpress.net – April 10, 2023