Inside the abandoned F1 track that cost £300 million to build but hasn't been used for 12 years

A former Formula 1 race track, which cost more than £300 million to construct, has not been used for over a decade.

Over the years, we have seen the sport of F1 being held at iconic tracks around the globe.

For example, places such as Monaco, Las Vegas, Australia, China, Great Britain, and Japan have all played host to an F1 Grand Prix.

This weekend, the race is being held at the world-famous Silverstone circuit in England.

Speaking recently, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali said that it can be expected that Silverstone would remain on the sport's calendar forever.

He said: "I believe that Silverstone has the right characteristics to stay forever on the calendar because there is no other place where you can develop such a huge event in the UK."

However, there is one track that cost big money to build but has since been left to rot.

The Korea International Circuit, which reportedly cost £300 million to build, hosted four Grands Prix, the last of which took place in 2013.

Suggestions that 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 (F1's governing body) approval 10 days before the race, after rainfall caused delays to the build.

Sebastian Vettel won the 2013 Korean Grand Prix. Image: Getty

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 the 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."

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 12 years on the track is unused and being left to decay.