Argentina 's bid to host a Formula One race for the first time in more than a decade is under way after work started on a new circuit outside the capital Buenos Aires . The $ 100 million project is expected to be completed in two stages by the end of 2014 . It is being built by global design firm Populous , which helped redevelop Britain 's Silverstone circuit . `` We are really proud to contribute with our design to create a new destination for F1 , which always means an economic catalyst for the area and produces global exposure , '' said the company 's associate principal John Rhodes . `` During the last five years we have developed technology , software , and design techniques through the use of simulation to physically test the design of a circuit . `` These pioneering techniques have enabled the creation of a topographically exciting and challenging medium-speed circuit on what was a relatively square and flat 63-hectare site . '' Ground was broken on the Velociudad Speedcity site , situated 80 kilometers from Buenos Aires , on Friday . The first phase of construction , expected to last 14 months , will include a 3.1-kilometer track , pit lane , garages and an off-road track . The second will extend the circuit to 4.7 kilometers in order to qualify for a race licence . Populous , which is also working on a possible F1 project in the Indian city of Mumbai , said the Argentine development would require the movement of one million cubic meters of soil . The Argentine Grand Prix was held from 1953 to 1998 at Buenos Aires ' Autodromo Juan y Oscar Galvez circuit . The last race there was won by Ferrari 's Michael Schumacher , who at that stage had won two of his record seven world titles -- the next would come in 2000 .
Work continues on constructing a new street circuit in Argentina . South American nation last hosted a Formula One race in 2006 . New track outside Buenos Aires is expected to be finished by late 2014 .