Vietnam F1 street race unlikely for 2019

Formula 1 is continuing to work with the government of Vietnam over a possible street race in its capital, Hanoi, but is unlikely to add the event to the calendar until 2020 at the earliest.

Following its takeover of F1 in January 2017, Liberty Media has been working hard to expand the sport in new markets, placing a focus on the growing fanbase in Asia.

Vietnam has held an interest in welcoming F1 for some time, and is known to have been engaged in talks with series officials through 2017 about creating a new street race.

Speaking to the Associated Press in Tokyo, F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches confirmed that talks were ongoing with a view to staging the first Vietnam Grand Prix in the near future.

“We think Hanoi could come on in the next couple of years, and we're working with the Hanoi government to that end," said Bratches.

"This is a street race where we can go downtown, where we can activate a large fan base, and you have extraordinary iconography from a television standpoint.”

Bratches is noted to have knocked back the suggestion that Hanoi could join the F1 calendar for 2019, but it is understood that a showcase is set to take place in Vietnam later this year as a possible precursor to a grand prix in the future.

Besides Vietnam, Bratches confirmed that F1 was looking at holding a second grand prix in China as part of its push towards a 25-race calendar, as well as reiterating the series' desire for an additional event in the United States.

“We see the United States and China as countries that could support two races,” Bratches said.

“With the right economics, with the right structure and cadence of events across territories, 24 or 25 [races] is probably where we'd like to be from a longer-term standpoint.

“There's more interest than we have capacity in the schedule. We want to be very selective.

”It's very important for us as we move forward to go to locations that are a credit to the Formula 1 brand.”