Opinion | Vietnam Grand Prix? Hanoi should swerve Formula One instead of wasting millions pretending to be a mini Monaco

The Vietnamese government’s primary concern should be eradicating the squalor and personal struggle still faced by many in its capital, not putting on a flashy race for US$50 million

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A woman sells cigarettes to a man on a street in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: EPA

Published: 8:00am, 2 Jun 2018Updated: 9:29pm, 2 Jun 2018

One of the more memorable clips from last weekend’s dull Monaco Grand Prix is not of the race itself, but a viral video of a woman watching it while on a treadmill. Normal enough, you’d think – except it’s not a television she’s looking at, but the Formula One drivers zooming around the streets of Monte Carlo as she works out on the top deck of a luxury yacht docked trackside.

The video epitomises the obscene affluence of the principality, which makes it a suitable setting for the glitz and glamour of F1 with its beautiful backdrop of lavish mansions and picturesque coastline of the French Riviera.

I was taking in a different but no less beautiful view at the time, looking out over Hoan Kiem lake in Hanoi, Vietnam – except instead of a line of extravagant yachts, there was a row of tattered rickshaws around me.

But while the two delightful cities are worlds apart in wealth, they could share the distinction of having a slot on the Formula One calendar next season.

Spectators watch the Monaco Grand Prix from their luxury yachts. Photo: AFP

“We think Hanoi could come on in the next couple of years, and we’re working with the Hanoi government to that end,” Sean Bratches, F1’s managing director of commercial operations, said last month.

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