F1 hà nội 2023
F1 News Show The Vietnam Grand Prix in Hanoi was first on the calendar in 2020 but disappeared again due to the coronavirus pandemic. This year the Grand Prix did not return to the calendar, while all facilities in Hanoi have been made ready. In fact, they were already ready last year, but this year Formula 1 will not visit the country. Nevertheless, the will to do so is still there. Arrest of the MayorThe reason things are a bit difficult at the moment is partly due to matters in the background. The former mayor of Hanoi, Nguyen Duc Chung - who played a key role in organising the Grand Prix - was arrested last year and sentenced to five years in prison for misappropriation of state secrets and misuse of assets. Because of some issues the local promoter has to work out with the government, it was decided that 2021 was not the right time for a Grand Prix. So it remains to be seen when the promoter and Formula 1 will find it the right time. If it is up to the sport, Formula 1 will definitely travel to Hanoi again. Exciting race locationThis is what the general manager of race promotion Chloe Targett-Adams said during the BlackBook Motorsport Virtual Summit, quoted by Motorsportweek.com. "Vietnam is an incredibly exciting race location for Formula 1. There is a hugely young demographic in the country, vibrant business sector, somewhere we’re very excited to race." "2020 was to be the first race, with an amazing circuit bult in the outskirts of Hanoi. Totally understandably no one wants to launch a first race in the middle of a pandemic, [they’re] working through some localised issues with some change in government. We just decided and agreed with our promoter, Vingroup, that early 2021 just wasn’t the right timing for that." However, the cooperation remains in place and the hope is that one day it will work out. In conclusion, Targett-Adams said, "We continue to work through with them, longer-term we’d still relish the opportunity to have a race in Vietnam, so we’re hoping we’ll get there eventually." Last weekend saw the official launch of the Las Vegas GP, with top drivers like Lewis Hamilton flying in and F1 demo cars taking to the streets a year and 13 days ahead of the inaugural race. It was quite a show, with tyre-burning demonstrations from Hamilton, George Russell and Sergio Perez, as well as a Killers concert, but it also provides a reminder of the challenges that lay ahead if 20 cars are going to be on the grid as planned next November. When Bernie Ecclestone oversaw the first F1 events in Las Vegas back in 1981-’82 he essentially had to deal with one local entity, the Caesars Palace casino in whose car park the infamously tight track was located. After that project ended Ecclestone tried several times to revive interest in a return to Las Vegas, usually with a proper street track in mind. Getting that off the ground was always going to be difficult given the permissions involved, and the general feeling was that the city didn’t need F1. Times have changed, and the escalation in interest in the sport Stateside, boosted by Drive to Survive, has seen the goalposts move. In addition F1 owner Liberty Media has been determined to secure a date in Las Vegas, the ultimate “destination city”, having finally succeeded in Miami. Related article
Driven: F1's 2023 Las Vegas GP circuitIt’s straight out of a video game, but Formula 1 really will be racing on Las Vegas Boulevard, or the Strip to you and me. Whether you’re a fan of… 1st April 2022 By Chris Medland The Florida race represented an unusual joint venture between F1 and the local promoter but Vegas is different again – it’s entirely the baby of Liberty and F1, with no middleman. The organisations are working with Liberty subsidiary and leading concert organiser Live Nation. A close association with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority helped to get all the necessary agreements with the local authorities and the casinos that the track will pass by, and on whose land parts of the track and grandstands will sit. Indeed, F1 names the “founding partners” of the event as Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Las Vegas, along with “presenting partners” MSG Sphere, Resorts World Las Vegas and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. If you have the big players in town in your side, you’re pretty much set. And given the high prices quoted for tickets and accommodation packages everyone is banking on it being a huge success. No support races and a 10pm Saturday night start time will certainly be different – it can be pretty cold at that time of year in Nevada. Building a grand prix circuit in bustling Las VegasBold plans are one thing, but what about the practicalities? It takes weeks and even months to build up the facilities for any street race event, and that is why Liberty pulled off a clever move by buying a plot of land not far from the Strip on which it is building a permanent pit and paddock facility, starting grid, and the opening run of corners. Smoking Bull: Sergio Perez performs at the F1 launch party Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images Not having to erect and disassemble temporary pit buildings in the middle of a city represents a massive shortcut for F1 and it follows the example of Singapore, where the government provided the land for the pit and paddock. It contrasts with Baku, where everything is shipped in each year and built up in the city’s main public square. The permanent facility will also have a year-round use as F1’s toehold in the city, with potential for a memorabilia shop and regular events. There was talk of the paddock being split into two areas with one part far away from the pit buildings, and even a suggestion that the starting grid would be several corners away from the pitlane in a more prestigious spot, but it seems that a traditional layout will be used after all. One of the men tasked with making the Vegas race happen is project manager Oliver Liedgens of the Tilke organisation. He’s worked on many of the German company’s track projects, including Austin, Sochi, Baku, Jeddah and the Mexico City upgrade – plus the stillborn street events in New Jersey and Vietnam, failures that show just how hard it can be to get such events across the line with all the correct financing in place. “I think we are pretty close to have the final track layout,” Liedgens tells Motor Sport. “We just started the homologation process, there’s a back and forth with the FIA going on now. There will be minor adaptations in the safety installations. “We started with the pit building, we are actually in the building phase, I would say, and we are now going to do all the contracts with the long lead time items. It’s looking really, really good.” Liedgens admits that having a permanent pit facility will be a huge help. “This makes it a little bit easier,” he says. “Because in the public areas, you have to align everything with the hotels, the casinos, and Clark County, and having this piece of land is giving us the freedom to start with the hot topics like the installation of the pitlane, the garages, and so on. “Turn 1 to Turn 4 will be on the permanent property, then we have also a section on a second private property around the Sphere [a landmark new event venue], Turn 5 to 9. And the rest, of course, will be public. “It’s kind of a hybrid, like for example we had in Vietnam. Unfortunately, that never came along! “I was involved in Baku. We had to work all night or at night to find hours, and it was really, really tough. This might be a better solution.” The Grand Prix weekend in VegasIn places like Baku and Singapore governments have the authority to close streets for lengthy periods, either side of the actual race weekend. That won’t happen in Vegas, where access will have to be kept available for as long as possible. Liedgens has no doubts about the biggest challenge around the event. “Everybody’s expecting to have a massive event and this is creating a lot of energy” “I think overall, I would say traffic management and logistics,” he says. “Because we have to make sure that we open the streets and everything pretty fast after the event. “We have to make everybody happy, thousands of people coming to work to the hotels in the morning, in the evening events going on, shows going on. We have to make sure that we arrange all this with the owners of the properties. “The good part is there’s already a pretty good infrastructure with bridges and so on. So this will work. We have local architects who are helping us to find solutions with the authorities. Related article
Top of the flops: when F1 failed in AmericaFormula 1 has tried many times before to crack the US – and failed. We examine grand prix racing's all-American disasters 31st March 2022 By James Elson “We are working on the concept that it should be like Baku, that we hope not so many people are coming with a car, and it should be a no-car event. I think the hotels are probably sufficient enough to give everybody a bed! And then we can really channel the people flow very well.” The track will be 3.8-miles in length, with as noted a substantial part on public roads. Will those sections be resurfaced to F1 standards? “Most likely, yes,” says Liedgens. “We are not yet in this final stage. But as you know, the crucial part beside the grip is always the evenness. “And if you have been ever in Vegas and you’ve been on the Strip, what you see is pretty damaged old asphalt. And since this is a super-fast track, we have to make sure that we guarantee a safe surface for the drivers.” And then there’s the usual temporary venue problem of manhole covers and drains. “It’s actually a topic I’m working on very close now with Clark County,” says Liedgens. “They don’t want to go for customised lids and covers, because in the future if you have to replace them, they don’t want to go to Germany or somewhere else in the world to buy them. So we’re looking now for American solutions with screws. “And what Tilke is always doing after each session is going out, checking the screws. It’s the same as the kerbs. In Miami also you have these metal kerbs, which are screwed down. So we are checking this, and I think it’s pretty normal at each city track.”
A track of 3.8-miles will require more than eight miles of barriers and fencing (allowing for escape roads and so on). While some will be on the permanent sections, putting the rest in place with a minimum of disruption will be a huge task. “We have the Geobrugg [mobile debris fence] system,” says Liedgens. “We have started producing the concrete blocks already. “It’s a night race, so we have to have track lighting, and this will be very challenging to bring it in the right spots, and to make it work. But besides this I think it’s a normal stress, what we have faced with all the city tracks!” Building the Las Vegas Boulevard circuit overnightKey to the whole operation will be a “supplier compound,” an area where everything is stored before it is put in place at the last minute. “We’re going to have the track lighting, Tecpro, kerbs. In Jeddah we had a 17,000 square metre compound, which was super, super big and super helpful. Related article
Hanoi's abandoned street circuit: What happened to the Vietnamese GP?The cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix was dramatic and last-minute, given it came just a matter of minutes before FP1 was scheduled to start in Melbourne. But in many… 28th January 2021 By Chris Medland “And from there, which is our base, we will make very detailed schedules to go ahead and install Turn 5 from 10pm to 4am with 70 people and so on. “We know we have to install it, bring it into position, into place. And then to open for the public, we’re going to lift the blocks out of the line. That’s the advantage of the system. You can bring a block in and out without removing all the line.” A year seems like a long time to get the track up and running. It’s a bigger window than Tilke had in Jeddah – but that was a project on a previously empty site far away from downtown and fully backed by the government, with any hurdles easily tackled. Won’t Vegas be much more complicated? “I know where you’re coming from,” says Liedgens. “But I think we have a very good local project management team on site. And we are very transparent. I think this is a key factor too, if not to the public yet, because before you make anything public, you should be sure that you’re doing the right stuff. “We are very close in negotiation and discussions with all the casinos and hotels. And then we have a very good product management team, which is completely involved in all stages. “I also made the track in Austin. And I know the American way, it’s ‘Yes, we can.’ And this is absolutely the case, that they have this energy and this positive mindset to do it.” And life is made easier by the fact that ultimately the client is Liberty and not a third party. After working on so many Grand Prix projects, Tilke knows exactly how to do it and has open channels both to the key F1 players and to the FIA. “I have my shortcuts to be honest,” says Liedgens. “I don’t have to play the communicator between F1 and the promoter. I think for everybody it was really, really nice to do it in a first step together now, and we all know each other for a long time. “And I think also the spirit is, ‘Hey, let’s think a little bit out of the box.’ Because we have to find new solutions. Everybody’s expecting to have a massive event. And this is creating a lot of energy, and I really like it.” |
