Abandoned Blueprints: F1 Tracks That Were Never Finished

Video Description

Abandoned F1 circuits, unfinished Formula 1 tracks, forgotten Grand Prix blueprints, and legendary racetracks that never hosted a race — this video uncovers 10 fascinating stories of circuits that were planned for Formula 1 but never became reality. These projects were bold, ambitious, and sometimes completely crazy. Some came heartbreakingly close to completion, while others never made it past the drawing board. Imagine a parallel world of Formula 1 history where circuits like Pescara, Linas-Montlhéry, and Brands Hatch shaped the calendar instead of Monza or Silverstone. This video dives into that forgotten world — from daring oval concepts to reimagined classics and modern F1 redesigns that collapsed under financial, political, and safety pressures. We begin with Nivelles in Belgium, the track that was supposed to replace Spa for safety reasons in the 1970s. The original plan included a long, challenging extension that could have silenced critics, but land disputes and money troubles left us with a short, uninspiring layout. Then we move to Fuji Speedway in Japan, which was originally designed as a massive banked oval like Daytona before being scaled back to the road course we know today. From there, the journey takes us to AVUS in Berlin, home to the terrifying Nordkurve and a plan for a full high-speed oval that never came to life because of World War II. We also explore Red Bull Ring in Austria, where Dietrich Mateschitz had grand plans to restore the historic Westschleife and build an epic new layout, only for politics and lawsuits to end the dream. In France, Rouen-les-Essarts almost returned as a modern circuit in the 1980s, and Linas-Montlhéry had a futuristic plan to use its famous banked oval as a giant grandstand for a new F1-grade track. Meanwhile in the UK, Brands Hatch and Donington Park each launched ambitious redevelopment projects to steal the British Grand Prix from Silverstone. Both failed — leaving behind blueprints and, in Donington’s case, abandoned construction. Finally, we arrive at Pescara in Italy, the longest circuit ever to host a Formula 1 race. Decades after its last Grand Prix in 1957, two revival plans surfaced: one to restore the original 25 km street circuit, and another to build a permanent modern track inspired by its legendary layout. Both were doomed by cost and complexity, leaving Pescara as a living museum of forgotten speed. Spoiler Alert – Table of Contents 0:00 Introduction 0:39 Nivelles (Belgium) 3:52 Fuji Speedway (Japan) 7:16 AVUS (Germany) 9:25 Red Bull Ring (Austria) 12:14 Rouen-les-Essarts (France) 15:45 Zandvoort (Netherlands) 20:10 Donington Park (United Kingdom) 22:19 Brands Hatch (United Kingdom) 24:40 Linas-Montlhéry (France) 27:00 Pescara (Italy) Sources: Fuji Speedway Footage by @zocker1990 @rt_clik & @nonflatnebraska1936 under YouTube Creative Commons Licence Photo's by Morio - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3991711 By Missile shot - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2873082 By MATSUOKA Kohei - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4969762 AVUS Historic photo's by Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-02915 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5479529 By Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-13505 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5481070 By Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-P016402 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5474500 By Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-P018933 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5474616 All other footage by Herman Liesemeijer © All rights reserved Voice-over by Simon Smith @HigherPlainGames Music: Dark Times van Kevin MacLeod is gelicentieerd onder een Creative Commons Attribution 4.0-licentie. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Bron: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100747 Artiest: http://incompetech.com/ Hero's Theme van Twin Musicom is gelicentieerd onder een Creative Commons Attribution 4.0-licentie. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Bron: http://www.twinmusicom.org/song/280/heros-theme Artiest: http://www.twinmusicom.org Italian Morning van Twin Musicom is gelicentieerd onder een Creative Commons Attribution 4.0-licentie. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artiest: http://www.twinmusicom.org/ Long Road Ahead van Kevin MacLeod is gelicentieerd onder een Creative Commons Attribution 4.0-licentie. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Bron: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100588 Artiest: http://incompetech.com/ Triumphant Return van Audionautix is gelicentieerd onder een Creative Commons Attribution 4.0-licentie. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artiest: http://audionautix.com/ #abandonedtrack #f1 #f1history