Inside the abandoned F1 track that cost £75m per Grand Prix and hasn’t been used for 11 years – F1

An abandoned Formula One track that has not been used in over a decade cost some £300million to make.

The Korea International Circuit hosted four Formula One events, the last of which took place in 2023, before it was taken off the circuit a year later and relegated to hosting poorly attended local races.

Indeed, suggestions the track would fail existed from the off, with construction having been completed just in time to be used for the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. It only gained FIA approval 10 days before the race, after rainfall caused delays to the build.

Moreover, the facilities around the site were incomplete by the time of the race.

Elsewhere, the location was a problem, with South Korea not renowned for its love of Formula One and the Korea International Circuit built a whopping 200 miles from capital city Seoul.

While it could hold up to 120,000 people, the circuit failed to capture the imaginations of the local public across the four years it was on the schedule. It is even said that some contingents confused the abbreviated name F1 with K-1 – a mixed martial arts competition popular in Asia.

In turn, the circuit was not the money-spinner people had hoped it would be. Park Bong-soon, a South Jeolla Province official, told the New York Times in 2015: “We started with a big dream of making lots of money. Instead, we ended up with a spectacular flop.”

The Korea International Circuit has not been used for an F1 race in 11 years (Getty)

In the end South Korea was one of a handful of failed Grand Prix ventures from the early 2010s, alongside Turkey and India.

It only held four races, with Fernando Alonso crowned the inaugural winner in 2010 before Sebastian Vettel topped the podium in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

While plans were aired in 2013 to revive the race, they failed to materialise, meaning that 11 years on the track is unused and being left to decay.