RacingSouth Korea has moved its Formula 1 comeback plan forward with a concrete bid centered on Incheon, not the old Yeongam venue, after a feasibility study backed a five-year push for a 2028 race. The proposal is built around a 4.96-kilometer street circuit near Songdo Moonlight Festival Park, and local backers say it could draw 120,000 fans per day while creating nearly 5,000 jobs.
That is the headline. The fine print matters too. This is still an early-stage project, with no contract in place and no indication that talks with Formula 1 or Liberty Media have started.
According to local reports summarized by Korea Times and Crash.net, the race would run on a temporary circuit in Incheon’s Yeonsu-gu district using existing roads rather than returning to the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, which hosted the Korean Grand Prix from 2010 to 2013. The plan would still require new pit buildings and grandstands.
The study that gave the project the green light was carried out jointly by the Korea Industrial Development Institute and German circuit design firm Tilke, according to Korea Times. Incheon mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, quoted by Korea Times in coverage of the project, said an F1 race would be “a key driver that could reshape the landscape of city branding and the tourism industry.”
Backers are chasing a five-year hosting agreement. According to the proposal figures carried in local reports, the event could generate about 580 billion won, or £289.8 million, in tourism and create nearly 5,000 jobs. The same reporting says the circuit could handle 120,000 spectators per day and as many as 300,000 across a race weekend. Another version of the financial estimate put the initial investment at 553.6 million euros and projected benefits above 800 million euros over five years.
The circuit concept appears designed to match the current style of high-profile city races. One report compared it with Singapore and Las Vegas, and said the layout would sit around Songdo Moonlight Festival Park, close to Incheon International Airport and nearby tourist areas. But the project is still nowhere near the finish line.
Crash.net reported that this marks only the first official step in the bidding process. Local government support would still need to be followed by national backing, then a promoter tender, and then an F1 review. When approached by Crash.net, Formula 1 declined to comment.
That leaves Incheon trying to break into a packed calendar. Formula 1 already runs 24 races, and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has repeatedly said new events must offer long-term value and that additions would mean other races making way, according to reports on the wider calendar picture. South Korea is not alone in targeting that 2027 to 2028 window either, with Thailand also working toward a possible 2028 debut.
So the Incheon plan has moved from idea to an official early bid, and that is a real step. It is also only that: an early bid, with the hard part still ahead.