Formula 1 has not given up hope of holding a grand prix in Vietnam and will seek to “exploit other opportunities” in the region as well.
The inaugural Vietnam GP was due to be held last year but was postponed and then cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
F1’s global director of race promotions Chloe Targett-Adams has suggested the pandemic is the chief reason for the race stalling but Vietnam never even made it onto the 2021 calendar following the arrest of Hanoi leader Nguyen Duc Chung.
Chung was a key part of getting the race in the Vietnamese capital but was found guilty of corruption shortly after F1’s provisional calendar was issued and sentenced to five years in prison.
There has been no indication of a reprieve for Vietnam since then, despite its part-city-street circuit being almost finished a year ago.
“Vietnam is incredibly exciting race location for Formula 1, a hugely young demographic in the country, vibrant business sector,” Targett-Adams said in a BlackBook virtual event this week.
“It’s somewhere we’re very, very excited to race. 2020 was to be the first race on an amazing circuit built in the outskirts of Hanoi, and then totally understandably no one wants to launch a first race in the middle of a pandemic.
“Working through some localised issues with some change in government going on as well, we just decided and agreed with our promoter that early 2021 just wasn’t the right timing for that.
“We continue to work through with them and longer term we’d obviously still relish the opportunity to have a race in in Vietnam, so we’re hoping we’ll get there eventually.”
Targett-Adams’s comments could be interpreted as a suggestion that the race could be deployed should Hanoi, which is now led by Chu Ngoc Anh, still be supportive of the event post-pandemic.
However, there appears to be no record of the new mayor commenting on the fate of the grand prix, let alone optimism it could yet go ahead.
F1’s new CEO Stefano Domenicali side-stepped the political controversy in Hanoi when he addressed the prospect of a Vietnam race in a call with investors this week.
But he suggested that, even if it is not in Vietnam, F1 would like to explore more options in Asia.
“For whatever reason that happened, we didn’t have the race,” he said.
“But for sure, that is an area – the far east in general – that is very important for the strategic growth of our business in the future.
“That’s an area where we’re going to exploit other opportunities for the future.”
F1’s only Southeast Asian race at present is the Singapore Grand Prix, which has an expiring contract this year but is expected to renew.
There has not been a second race in the region since the last Malaysian Grand Prix in 2017 (pictured below).
Present races in East Asia, though, also include China and Japan (and previously Korea).
Even without the Vietnam race, F1 was able to announce a 23-round season for 2021. There is scope within the championship’s deal with the teams to go to as many as 25 races.
A second US race alongside the grand prix at Austin is one priority, while another Asian round appears to be high on the agenda – and Targett-Adams has also named Africa as somewhere F1 wants to race again.
“We are in a great moment because despite the pandemic, we are receiving an incredible number of requests,” said Domenicali.
“That shows F1 is at the centre of the interest, not only from the organisers all around the world, but also from the motorsport community.
“Therefore, our strategic plan is to decide first of all: what is the right dimension in terms of races in the year?
“Contracts [Singapore and the US] are expiring, but there are discussions ongoing because they are really important, and there is a lot of interest to progress and keep them.”
Liberty boss Greg Maffei added that “we think demand will rise for our sport” and said “we don’t fear that, we actually appreciate that, because we think there’s more opportunity”.
On the prospect of a race in Africa, which has been supported by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Targett-Adams said it is “wrong” F1 does not race on the continent.
The last South African Grand Prix was held in 1993. South Africa, and Morocco, have been linked with returns to the calendar.
“We’ve been in talks with possible options for a few years and we’re hoping that we will be able to achieve a race there in the near to mid-term,” said Targett-Adams.
