F1 | GP Vietnam, Tilke and the race against time: "We only have one year to finish the work"

There is just over a year left until the first historic edition of Vietnam Grand Prix, which will take place in April 2020 on the streets of Hanoi and which represents the first real deal concluded by the current Formula One rights holder Lberty Media.

In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Hermann Tilke spoke about the progress of the works which will only begin at the end of January: “We only have a whole year to finish everything. This isn't the first time we've done this. We only had 14 months in Bahrain".

On the critical issues of a city route, like that of Hanoi, Tilke added: “There are many more details to consider than a completely new track, although the effort is very similar for us. It will be a track that is not easy to drive for the riders".

Bernie Ecclestone's former architect also revealed an indiscretion that could make the Vietnam GP more unpredictable: a minimum time penalty for stopping.

"It was a wish on the part of the Formula One bosses. They wanted the time lost in the pit lane to be as short as possible for making a stop, thus giving the teams more options for strategy”, concluded Tilke.