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Hamilton wants second British GP before Vietnam

Hamilton wants second British GP before Vietnam

Hamilton wants second British GP before Vietnam

Hamilton wants second British GP before Vietnam

Lewis Hamilton has called on Liberty Media to consider adding more races in traditional countries like Great Britain before taking Formula 1 to new countries where fan attendance is not guaranteed. Liberty confirmed plans for a Vietnam Grand Prix to be added to the schedule from 2020 recently.

While traditional venues like Silverstone, Monza and Germany's Hockenheim and the Nurburgring struggle with the financial burdens of their F1 contracts, F1's future in Vietnam is another expansion of the sport's global reach.

However, with venues such as Turkey, India and Korea coming and going on the calendar in recent years, Hamilton is uncertain that going truly global is the right approach.

"On the racing side, I don't know how important it is to go to new countries as such," Hamilton told BBC Sport.

"If you had the Silverstone Grand Prix and a London Grand Prix, it would be pretty cool.

"We've got a lot of real racing history in England, Germany, Italy and now in the States it is starting to grow.

"But you only have one event per year in those places.

"If it was my business, I'd be trying to do more events in those countries.

Hamilton said he was "conflicted" visiting India for a race, pointing out the issues that F1 faces while trying to visit developing countries.

"I've been to Vietnam before and it is beautiful," he added.

"I've been to India before to a race which was strange because India was such a poor place yet we had this massive, beautiful grand prix track made in the middle of nowhere.

"I felt very conflicted when I went to that grand prix.

"We had a grand prix in Turkey and hardly anyone came. Cool track, cool weekend but poor audience."

MORE: Hamilton honoured by Fangio family after fifth title
MORE: Hamilton says Liberty could drive him to quit F1

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