Inside abandoned F1 track left frozen in time a decade after last Grand Prix with names of retired drivers still up
AN ABANDONED F1 track has been frozen in time a decade on from its last race.
And the names of retired drivers are still up over the garage doors in the pit lane in an eery nod to yesteryear.
The faded and antiqued signs for former Red Bull pair Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Australian Mark Webber remain in place from the 2013 race.
Vettel won that Grand Prix – as he did the two previous times it was staged in 2011 and 2012 – during his dominant period in F1.
But after just three editions, the race was cancelled in 2014 as part of a one-year hiatus to change the F1 schedule before a tax dispute saw its return postponed and then totally scrapped.
The track in question is… the Buddh International Circuit in India.
The circuit, in the Gautama Buddha region on Uttar Pradesh in northern India – just outside New Delhi and 100 miles north of the Taj Mahal.
It only opened in 2011, with an estimated construction cost of £320million, and had a capacity of 110,000 spectators.
With 16 turns spanning the 5.125km track, Vettel held the lap record with a blistering 1:27.249 in 2011.
Jenson Button said it was particularly tricky to maintain consistent high speeds throughout the track.
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Vettel – who joined Webber in F1 retirement last year – agreed and added: “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 ten per cent uphill.
“It’s like a roller coaster. It really has emerged as one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar for the drivers.”
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s best result at Buddh came in 2012 with a fourth-placed finish – despite starting third on the grid.
After the F1 Grand Prix was pulled from the calendar, there were no international events held at the circuit between 2014 and 2022 – except the 2016 Asia Road Racing Championship.
However, the circuit will make its major return to motorsport in 2023 with the MotoGP Grand Prix of India – scheduled for round 13 of the season on September 24.