![]() Throughout the whole country, only one mine actually met with the requirement. “And in order to know whether it’s quality or not, we have to send off all the samples to different laboratories for tests – in Singapore, in Germany, in Vietnam, all over the place. For the choosing of the materials, we have to go to all kinds of different mines all over the country, not just one or two, from the north to the south, just so that we can find a mine that produces the quality materials. “It’s not regular asphalt paving like normal roads that you do it’s just such a complicated and delicate process. “The building of the asphalt is beyond anything that I’ve done and imagined before,” Chi admits. The track surface requirements are incredibly specific: a normal road is unlikely to do the job. While there are ongoing changes and tweaks in order to produce the best possible circuit given the space available, some aspects are fixed. “We are working very closely with the FIA right now to make it perfect in terms of safety, and with the F1 motorsport division to make it attractive, and make it more exciting for the drivers and for the fans.” ![]() That’s the most important thing that we want to deliver, so we don’t mind that at all. ![]() From the promoter point of view, of course financially that means we have to spend more money, but we are happy to do it because we will do everything to make it safe. “The FIA is still asking us to put a bit more fence here, put more Tecpro there, add SAFER barriers, just to make sure that it’s 100 percent safe. Obviously they’re not changing the track anymore because the track is completely done, but the runoff areas can still be fixed and revised a little to make it safer. So even to this day, they’re still trying to change a little bit here and a little bit there in terms of the runoff. “They still try to improve it, and try to make it safer, too. Don’t ask me about the technical details! Everyone thought that will just make a better track. “So it’s official and final, and approved by everyone. “The track was 5565 meters (3.46 miles) long, and now it’s 5607 meters (3.48 miles),” Chi says. ![]() The track length and layout itself changed as late as December – just four months before the inaugural race – when a 23rd turn was added, and as Le Ngoc Chi, CEO of the Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation, explains, development of a new track involves constant liaising with the FIA and Formula 1. In January it was announced that the Hanoi pit building had been completed, marking a major milestone in the track build, but the amount of work that needs to go into other areas of the project might surprise you. One is a permanent circuit at Zandvoort being updated to Formula 1 standards, and the other is a new street track in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The 2020 season currently features a record-breaking 22-event calendar that includes two new venues. Roads are already in place, as is the infrastructure around the venue, so you add some curbs, barriers and a pit building, and it’s job done, right? So you’d be forgiven for thinking a street circuit is an easier option in terms of setting up a new race. They tend to require a significant amount of land, and as a result, are usually hidden in locations well outside of major population hubs. New Formula 1 circuits are impressive facilities, some taking years to build at huge expense.
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