Ten years on, has the Korean Grand Prix seen its final red flag?

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Published: 16 Jul. 2024, 14:33 Updated: 16 Jul. 2024, 17:22

Ten years on, has the Korean Grand Prix seen its final red flag?

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil drives during the first practice session of the 2013 Koreab Grand Prix at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South Jeolla on Oct. 4, 2013. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The stage was set in 2010 for Korea to host its inaugural Grand Prix. The world’s fastest, flashiest drivers would battle it out for the lead at the end of a very competitive race season.

Everything seemed perfect — an innovative track surrounded by misty mountains with the drama of the title chase. But the event was a mess, hit by rain and safety concerns, and the Korean Grand Prix would sunset after just four years. A decade later, people are still wondering if Formula 1 will ever race in Korea again.

From 2010 to 2013, Korea took up a weekend on the Formula 1 calendar in Yeongam, South Jeolla — a rural county near the southern city of Mokpo, a region not known for tourism with no restaurants or hotels near the race course.

As attendance died down, coupled with the maintenance costs that Formula 1 tracks require, the event was eventually abandoned. The track lives on, used for smaller domestic and regional racing competitions, but with none of the glitz and glamour of a big-ticket Formula 1 event.

So why did Formula 1 come to Korea, when did things start going downhill and will it ever come back?

The 2013 Korean Grand Prix takes place in Yeongam, South Jeolla on Oct. 6, 2013. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Before the grid

Bernie Ecclestone, who ran Formula 1 for 43 years until 2017, wanted to expand the motorsports market to increase viewership and publicity. He first started looking to Asia in the 1980s, introducing a race in Japan, and added China and Singapore in the early 2000s.

The Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka City was the first race to arrive in Asia, introduced in 1987, and has remained part of the schedule ever since. The Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai followed in 2004. Both proved very popular, with the difficulty of the tracks making for an exciting addition to the Formula 1 calendar.

The Singapore Grand Prix, which arrived in 2008, was known to be the most difficult track in Formula 1 and sold out tickets in its first year.

Like Japan, Korea is one of the world’s top car exporters, exporting 70 million cars in 2010, which seemed like the perfect market for car enthusiasts. And Hermann Tilke, the architect behind the fan-favorite tracks in China and Singapore, was tasked with building a similarly interesting and arduous course in Korea.

With a budget of 250 billion won ($263 million), success in Korea seemed guaranteed.

But when actual construction began and the organizers attempted to make their ideas a reality, things began to crumble.

The 2013 Korean Grand Prix takes place in Yeongam, South Jeolla on Oct. 6, 2013. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Problems from the start

Immediately, there were issues.

The inclusion of Korea in the 2010 Formula 1 calendar was confirmed in 2006, leaving Korea with four years to get everything race ready.

In December, 2009, the race organizers announced that everything was on track to be completed by July 5, 2010, three months before the race scheduled for Oct. 17 that year.

But things went off the rails quickly, and by the summer of 2010, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) had to push back its mandatory circuit approval check to just 13 days before the race in order to give organizers enough time to complete construction.

According to the Guardian in 2010, the race track looked more like a building site than a circuit, with construction equipment littered all around the area.

But despite the concerns, the Korean Grand Prix weekend was still scheduled to occur, with Korea hosting the first of the final three races of the neck-and-neck 2010 season.

The FIA inspector green lit the race in the last-minute, T-13 inspection, officially ensuring the first Korean Grand Prix would go ahead.

The track stretched 5.615 kilometers and included long straights for overtakes and short turns, features that require high levels of skill.

To start the race weekend, teams were given three free practices to test out track conditions and report problems.

The first practice showed a lack of grip as several drivers were seen slipping off the track.

However, after the second and third practices returned with more adhesive, there were hopes for a successful weekend.

After the practice sessions, organizers made several changes to the track, including creating another apex turn, as debris piled up on the circuit.

Qualifying would prove to be eventful — Sebastian Vettel took the pole position but many racers complained about poor track conditions and a build up of debris.

Despite the complaints, the weekend would close with the inaugural Korean Grand Prix winner.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel takes a corner followed by Sahara Force India driver Paul di Resta during the first practice session of the 2011 Korean Grand Prix at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South Jeolla on Oct. 14, 2011. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The glory years

The first year saw the Korean Grand Prix struggle with rain as it made the safety concerns more evident for the drivers and teams.

Nine drivers, including championship contenders Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, ended their race early due to crashes and car issues.

Only 80,000 attendees went to the event, falling short of the average attendance rate for other races in the 2010 Formula 1 season.

Fernando Alonso ultimately won the first Korean Grand Prix and took the point lead for the championship.

Alonso later called the event “one of the best races of the year,” and also said facing the challenges was enjoyable.

Bleacher Report also stated that “Webber, despite his crash, [was] a big fan.”

From 2011 to 2013, fans saw Red Bull Racing Renault’s Sebastian Vettel dominate the Formula 1, and win every remaining Korean Grand Prix.

Perhaps surprisingly, most of the grid finished the race over the next three years, despite the safety concerns with the track.

Fans after the race were asked to rate the weekend from 1-10 which a fan added that, “Barring the crashes and incidents, not much actually happened. The wait really wasn’t fun, either.”

Another fan added that, “I’m quite happy with the result, but the race was a bit dull."

The 2013 Korean Grand Prix takes place in Yeongam, South Jeolla on Oct. 6, 2013. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Where things went downhill

But behind the scenes, the Korean Grand Prix continued down a very bumpy road. Races went ahead in 2011, 2012 and 2013, before everything ground to a halt.

On top of the drivers’ complaints about safety and declining viewership, the Korean Grand Prix’s organizers couldn’t pay up.

The initial contract stated that Korea needed to pay $36 million for the first year and $40 million for subsequent years to continue hosting the event.

Coupled with the $15.6 million needed to be paid to the Formula One Management for TV rights, the near $50 million debt was piling up for the South Jeolla provincial government and its sponsors.

In 2011, organizers requested a renegotiation with Formula 1, but Ecclestone rejected the request. He said that the Korean organizers knew what the fees would be when they agreed to sign the contract.

Ecclestone doubled down, telling the Korean organizers that if they cannot pay the fees, the Korean Grand Prix would be removed from the Formula 1 schedule.

But the Korean Grand Prix remained on the Formula 1 calendar, and in 2012 the Korean organizers said that they had been successful in negotiating a new deal that would cut 23 billion won from the final cost.

Despite that, organizers said they still anticipated a 29 billion won loss and, after the 2013 race, the Korean Grand Prix was dropped from the Formula 1 calendar.

Another lap?

The Korean Grand Prix never returned after 2013. A perceived lack of interest among Korean viewers coupled with the remote location of the track left organizers with little interest in trying to resuscitate the tournament.

But while there's little interest in Yeongam, interest in a Korean Grand Prix has started to grow recently after the Incheon sent a letter of intent expressing its desire to host a street race in 2027 or 2026.

Getting that proposal off the ground will likely take some serious work, however, as the Incheon city government would not only need a way to avoid the losses generated by the last Korean Grand Prix — reportedly in the billions of won — but also to persuade Formula 1 that it was worth taking the risk on Korea again.

Songdo in Incheon [JOONGANG ILBO]

A well executed street race could be Korea's one chance to make it work. Utilizing existing streets could be a way to cut down on costs, and areas such as Songdo and Yeongjong Island have both the roads and the space to potentially create a viable street circuit. The location would also solve the tourism issue — both are within a short drive of Incheon International Airport (which is located on Yeongjong Island) and home to some of the country's top hotels.

Street circuits do pay off financially, as well.

Monaco only pays $20 million to host the event — the lowest in all of Formula 1 — and is therefore one of the few countries to turn a real profit. In fact, the Monaco race is so popular that the country quintuples its population during race week.

BY KEVIN CHUNG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]