Tilke: It is ambitious to build Vietnam circuit in time

Hermann Tilke has said that it is an ambitious plan to build the Vietnam Formula 1 street circuit in time. However, he is confident that he will be able to complete it in time for its inaugural race in April 2020 which is the first new race venue agreed by F1 rights holder Liberty Media.

The construction is not due to start on the circuit until the end of January and then Tilke's company will have 12 months until everything has to be finished. Tilke added that the process of building a street circuit is no quicker than building one from scratch as although the roads are already there, there are many other details that need to be considered. 

Tilke said: "But this is not the first time we have done this. We only had 14 months in Bahrain for a complete track." He also added that the Vietnam circuit will be liked by the drivers: "Unlike some of the modern street circuits it will not be easy for them to drive."

With a design aimed at creating exciting racing, Tilke revealed that the track will feature a pitlane that cuts out a whole combination of turns. This should mean that drivers will only suffer a small penalty for making a pitstop. 

"That was a wish of the Formula 1 bosses. They wanted the time lost in the pitlane to be as small as possible to create more pitstops and give teams more options with the strategy."