Abandoned F1 track cost £320m and was 'like a rollercoaster' but has been ignored
One Grand Prix circuit has not been used in F1 for more than a decade.
The current F1 season signifies the most diverse one yet, with 24 different venues from around the world hosting Grand Prix events. By the time all is said and done this year, teams and drivers would have travelled across five different continents and racked up record amounts of miles in air travel.
A campaign that began with pre-season testing in Bahrain in February won’t end until the middle of December with the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
However, while the sport’s status as a worldwide phenomenon escalates, one former F1 track has been forgotten, with its only worth to fans and drivers being the memories provided more than a decade ago.
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The Buddh International Circuit in India hosted F1 events in 2011, 2012 and 2013. It has since been ignored and as recently as 2019, the names of drivers from the 2013 grid remained on the garage doors in the pit lane still visible, but fading.
It was a venue that prompts positive memories for Sebastian Vettel, who won the Indian Grand Prix on all three occasions amid his run of four consecutive world titles with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013.
However, he never got a shot at a fourth success, with the race cancelled in 2014. Initially, organisers vowed to return two years later, with the hiatus seemingly temporary as the F1 schedule was changed.
However, due to a tax dispute with the Uttar Pradesh government, the 2015 edition was also scrapped and a resolution to return was never reached.
The track had only opened in 2011, located in the Gautama Buddha region in northern India, close to New Delhi and 100 miles north of the Taj Mahal.
Construction costs were estimated at £320million, and the circuit boasted a capacity of 110,000 spectators in total.
Vettel also clocked the fastest lap of 1:27.249 in 2011. However, that didn’t mean he wasn’t tested by the circuit, previously admitting it had the potential to cause major problems for drivers - calling it a "rollercoaster".
He explained: "There is a lot of elevation change around the lap which adds to the fun, from as much as eight per cent downhill and up to 10 per cent uphill. It's like a rollercoaster. It really has emerged as one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar for the drivers."
The track was utilised in 2016, hosting the 2016 Asia Road Racing Championship. It even made a return last year in order to play home to the 2023 MotoGP Grand Prix of India.
Rumours are circulating of an F1 return to the country in 2028, but not to the track that Vettel once dominated. Instead, a purpose-built circuit in the state of Gujarat appears in line to be used.
That means the long-term future of the Buddh International Circuit is unclear, though it looks unlikely it will ever host the F1 circus once more.
