Abandoned F1 circuits including £540m venue never used and track fans can still visit | F1 | Sport
The current calendar features glitzy street circuits in major markets, such as Las Vegas and Miami, as well as nine-figure road courses like the Yas Marina Circuit. However, there are a series of tracks from the not-too-distant past that stand abandoned, frozen in time.
Express Sport looks back at some of the great abandoned tracks in F1…
Hanoi Street Circuit
The Hanoi Street Circuit holds a unique place in Formula 1 history. Originally intended to debut on the calendar in 2020, the inaugural Vietnam Grand Prix was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although plans remained to include the track on the 2021 schedule.
Fans even got the chance to drive the twisty, Hermann Tilke-designed circuit on the F1 game. However, cars never touched the track in real life. In November 2020, city mayor Nguyen Duc Chung was arrested on corruption charges unrelated to the Grand Prix, although these allegations cast a shadow over the prospective event.
The Vietnam GP was never reintroduced, and the half-built Hanoi Street Circuit still lies abandoned to this day, despite city officials designating a budget of $600million (£540m) for its completion.
Valencia Street Circuit
Unlike the Hanoi circuit, the Valencia Street Circuit saw action after its construction. Hosting the European Grand Prix for five years starting in 2008, the track was characterised by a series of 90-degree corners and only one notable straight, meaning overtaking opportunities were sparse, and the on-track action left a lot to be desired.
The Valmar Sport group, which orchestrated the deal with Bernie Ecclestone and organised the event, took on significant debt over time, growing to £255 million. The 2012 instalment proved to be the circuit’s final moment in the spotlight.
Since 2013, the circuit’s premises have been left abandoned, overgrown, and vandalised by urban explorers. Shabbily organised concrete blocks and catch-fencing remain in place, albeit decaying, and the old pit building still stands, devoid of any contents.
Reims-Gueux
Today, the F1 calendar somehow remains without French representation, but the great motoring nation has had its fair share of iconic circuits over the years. Among them is the Reims-Gueux circuit, which now boasts the unique status of being an abandoned Grand Prix venue that fans can still legally visit.
After hosting 13 Grands Prix, F1 action at the circuit ceased, although sports car competitions continued to keep the track in use until 1969. However, after motorcycle events stopped using it three years later, the Reims-Gueux venue closed permanently.
Brief hopes of a resurrection in the late 1990s were short-lived, and demolitions began in 2002. Today, much of the paddock and grandstands have been knocked down, but memories of Reims-Gueux remain, and fans and urban explorers alike can visit the premises with the permission of the local preservation society, Les Amis du Circuit du Gueux.
