Hanoi Street Circuit

Hanoi Street Circuit at a glance

Location

Hanoi (Nam Từ Liêm District)

Type

historic circuit (defunct)

Length

5.613 km (3.488 mi)

Turns

23

Direction

counter-clockwise

Surface

asphalt

Opened

2020

Owner

formerly Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation (Vingroup-backed); circuit never activated for racing

Track map and layout

The Hanoi Street Circuit was a Hermann Tilke-designed street layout combining closed public roads with purpose-built sections through the Nam Từ Liêm district, built to host the inaugural Formula 1 Vietnamese Grand Prix in 2020. The 5.613 km, 23-turn anticlockwise layout (revised from an original 22-turn design in December 2019 for safety reasons) featured a long 1.5 km main straight and a mix of flowing sections inspired by circuits including the old Nürburgring, deliberately designed with a variety of corner styles to make it visually and technically distinctive. Construction was completed in February 2020, but the circuit never hosted the race it was built for and has sat unused ever since; by 2025 reports described vegetation overgrowth and deterioration around its pit buildings.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

No competitive motorsport event has ever been held at the Hanoi Street Circuit; the planned 2020 Formula 1 Vietnamese Grand Prix was cancelled before it could take place. Since then the site has occasionally hosted non-racing public and corporate events, including a Honda Thanks Day gathering over New Year 2022-2023 and a Mobile Police Command 50th anniversary parade on the main straight in April 2024, and it is expected to be used as a filming location for Sasuke Vietnam season 6 in 2026.

Getting there and parking

The circuit sits in Hanoi's Nam Từ Liêm district, within the city and accessible by ordinary road transport; there is no dedicated visitor infrastructure since the site has been closed to the public since the Grand Prix plans were shelved, though its roads remain part of the city's street network.

• Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) · about 30 min drive

The site is not set up as a visitor attraction and has been largely closed to the public since 2020; there is little for a casual visitor to see beyond the streets and disused pit buildings.

Hotels and camping near Hanoi Street Circuit

Hanoi's Old Quarter and central districts offer the city's main concentration of hotels and are the natural base for any visitor to Hanoi; there is no accommodation cluster tied specifically to the circuit itself, which sits in a residential and commercial district away from the main tourist areas.

Where to look

Hanoi Old Quarter and central Hoan Kiem district for the main hotel and tourism infrastructure, a taxi ride from the circuit site in Nam Từ Liêm.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

There is no track-day or public driving access; the circuit has never been activated for racing or public track use and has been closed to the public since the 2020 Grand Prix plans were shelved.

Spectator guide

There is no spectator event or infrastructure in active use; grandstands and circuit buildings were constructed for the planned 2020 Grand Prix but have never hosted a paying crowd and have deteriorated through disuse.

Weather

• Dec-Feb (winter): cool and often overcast, highs around 18-20°C
• Jun-Aug (summer): hot and humid, highs often exceeding 33°C with heavy rain possible

History of Hanoi Street Circuit

Built for a Grand Prix that never happened

The Hanoi Street Circuit was constructed to host the inaugural Formula 1 Vietnamese Grand Prix, announced in 2018 as part of F1's push into new markets under its Liberty Media ownership. Designed by Hermann Tilke and backed heavily by Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup through the Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation, the 5.613 km, 23-turn street circuit wove through the Nam Từ Liêm district on Hanoi's western side, deliberately mixing corner styles reminiscent of several classic circuits to give the layout a distinctive character. Construction finished in February 2020, with the race scheduled for April that year as an early-season round on the 2020 F1 calendar.

Cancelled by the pandemic, then shelved for good

The race never took place. The COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in March 2020 along with much of the rest of that season's calendar, and Vietnam was never rescheduled as F1 restructured its pandemic-era season. Hopes for a future Vietnamese Grand Prix were dealt a further blow in August 2020 when Hanoi People's Committee Chairman Nguyễn Đức Chung, a key official behind the race, was arrested on corruption charges connected to contracts awarded for the event's organisation. With its main political backer removed and no clear path back onto the calendar, F1's plans for Hanoi were quietly shelved.

A dormant circuit in the heart of the city

Since 2020 the circuit has sat largely unused, closed to the public for racing purposes, its finished infrastructure gradually deteriorating; reports by 2025 described overgrown vegetation and neglect around the pit buildings. The site has hosted a handful of non-racing public events, including a Honda gathering over New Year 2022-2023 and a police parade in 2024, and is expected to be used as a filming location for a Vietnamese television series in 2026, but as of 2026 there is no announced plan to revive it as a competitive racing venue.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Haitang Bay Circuit · 510 km · street circuit
• Chang International Circuit · 730 km · road course
• Guangdong International Circuit · 769 km · road course
• Guia Circuit (Macau Grand Prix) · 816 km · street circuit
• Zhuhai International Circuit · 819 km · road course
• Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit · 879 km · historic circuit (defunct)