F1 Talk: The Latest on Hanoi and Zandvoort

Right now F1 was meant to be embarking on a new grand prix and a returning race over the next few weeks. Instead, the wait for an F1 race goes on. Will there even be a season this year?

The Vietnamese Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix were set to be two of the highlights of the 2020 Formula One calendar. Both tracks were ready and raring to go so lets look at what F1 fans can look forward to when those races take place.

New races are always exciting and the Hanoi Street Circuit on paper will be a gamechanger for F1. Inspiration from the Nuburgring, Suzuka and the Circuit of the Americas has led to a 3.484 miles track which should create some fantastic racing.

A 0.9 miles straight is one of the unique features of the circuit and the amount of full throttle sections will make setup difficult because the teams will have to factor in the number of corners which will require a lot of downforce to maximise the entry and exit speeds.

The Esses section in the middle of the track is reminiscent of Macau. It is interesting to see that the pitlane entry and exit misses out the final two corners and the first corner. This is a clear indication that the FIA have thought about making the pit lane loss time as short as possible which may lead to more pitstops.

The more time you lose in the pitlane compared to the track, the more likely the teams will want to go for a one-stop. By cutting the track, the pitlane loss may only be 16-18 seconds which encourages teams to pit for a second or third occasion.

When the pitlane speed limit was lowered a few years ago, this increased the time loss in the pits, hence why we see more one stop races nowadays.

Overall, the circuit looks great and when F1 does visit Vietnam, we can expect some brilliant action.

Onto the Dutch Grand Prix. There are not going to be many braking zones at Zandvoort which will make qualifying very important. The track was never going to be an overtaking-fest due to the tight, old-school nature of the 2.642 miles circuit.

Speeds will be very high and the drivers will be on the absolute limit with any mistake highly likely to be punished. Most of the gravel traps will remain too, adding to the character of the track as well as the challenge.

The third and final turns are banked and there has been much talk about that final banked corner which will have 18 degrees of banking, twice as much as Indianapolis.

Zandvoort has the potential to be a killer on the tyres due to the high speed corners, the banking and the lack of straights which means the tyres will not have much time to cool down. This characteristic could make for a thrilling strategical race.

New tracks are already an unknown so adding the element of high tyre degradation will put the teams on their toes and make for an exciting grand prix.

Expect a short lap with laptimes at the 1:08 mark making for a 72 lap race. Should it rain, it will be like driving on a street circuit due to the tight nature of the Zandvoort circuit.

For the fans, the pit complex will be completely overhauled and the grandstands will be temporary. Hundreds of thousands of Dutch fans are expected to roar on their home hero Max Verstappen.

We often see the Orange Army at most of the European events so we can expect a sea of orange around Zandvoort and if Verstappen does win at home, the venue will be bouncing.

Both Hanoi and Zadvoort have done great jobs and I was very excited for this period of the season to see what the renovated or new tracks look like and how the teams adapt to them.

Sometimes, new races or returning grand prix can be overhyped or turn out to be a little dull. India and Valencia were disappointing, the return of Paul Ricard was not met with huge enthusiasm.

But, Vietnamese and Dutch Grand Prix both have there reasons to get very excited about and we can expect them both to remain on the calendar in the long-term future. For the short term though, even getting a maiden Grand Prix will prove to be a challenge.