AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – When Formula 1 returned to the United States in 2012, it was in Texas, of all places, that the world’s top class of international auto racing made a giant leap into a country it had left five years earlier.
A decade later, Formula 1 is here to stay in the US.
Sunday’s US Grand Prix fulfills Formula 1’s original 10-year deal with the Circuit of the Americas, and the series has a new 10-year deal for the Miami Grand Prix that begins next season. New American fans were drawn into F1 by the Netflix documentary series “Drive to Survive”.
It took Formula 1 a decade to gain a foothold, and even without an American driver, many have insisted that the series must survive long-term in the United States. The thrilling championship fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was captivating and the sold-out Sunday is expected to be the biggest in racing history.
“Huge, huge F1 fan,” reigning NASCAR Champion Chase Elliott told reporters Thursday while wearing a jersey endorsed by McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo. “You know, it’s great fun to watch and they have a lot of traction right now.”
The addition of Miami to the schedule from next May is expected to increase Formula 1’s presence in North America to four stops: Montreal and Mexico City are both returning to the 2022 calendar, and Austin is among the 23 dates announced, even if route president Bobby Epstein after a new multi-year contract.
“I’m pretty optimistic that we will reach a new agreement in the future,” said Epstein. “The track has become the global brand we wanted. There were a lot of people who doubted it and didn’t understand why it should work in Austin. We have proven that it is successful. “
Epstein even believes that there is enough interest for further stations in the USA. Liberty Media, a US investment firm, has been running Formula 1 since 2017 and President Stefano Domenicali admitted that the country is a “key growth market”.
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Hamilton said he was excited about the expansion.
“It’s such a huge country,” said Hamilton. “Having just one race here is certainly not enough to really tap into the sporting culture here and really capture the fans and bring them on the journey with us.”
Hardly anyone would have expected the series to be so successful.
The Circuit of the Americas was in hilly bushland outside the Texas capital when F1 said it would be returning to the United States five years after its eight-year run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It seemed risky building a $ 300 million facility to house F1 and their open-wheel teams in a country where the NASCAR stock car series is king.
Texas lawmakers sweetened the deal by allowing Epstein and race organizers to tap state money to cover F1’s rights fees – a tab worth more than $ 25 million a year. The organizers applied for $ 35 million in government funding for this year’s race.
Epstein turned race weekends into full festivals with high profile concerts starring Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake and Pink. Billy Joel is the headliner on Saturday evening in the track’s huge infield.
NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, complained about the sparse crowd at the playoff race in Fort Worth last week. He suggested that NASCAR would copy the US Grand Prix party approach to attract more fans.
“I would love to see how we do a race weekend more F1-style and how we do hospitality, parties and all those things,” said Hamlin. “There has to be more to it than just showing up and racing like we’re doing now.”
F1 drivers have praised the Austin circuit themselves and take every opportunity to enjoy the US while promoting the race. Sergio Perez opened the festivities last weekend with a demonstration in his Red Bull in downtown Dallas, which drew more than 10,000 spectators. Charles Leclerc from Ferrari and Pierre Gasly from Alpha Tauri sat on the pitch at the NBA season opener in Milwaukee, and Mick Schumacher, son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher and driver of the American Haas team, was in the pit lane race for Stewart-Haas at NASCAR -Races on Sunday.
“I can see the passion for the sport is growing here, which is great,” said Perez. “Five years ago it wasn’t as popular as it is today. I think Formula One is only going to get bigger in the States. ”
What is still missing from the American market is a win – or even a podium – for an American driver or team.
Since Alexander Rossi’s limited run at Sauber ended in 2015, there hasn’t been an American driver in F1. He moved to IndyCar, won the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie and never returned to F1.
American businessman Gene Haas expanded into F1 in 2016 to expand his machine tool manufacturing company internationally. He has so far refused to develop an American driver and is currently racing cars for Schumacher, a German, and Russian driver Nikita Mazepin.
Haas has selected drivers with experience and financial support, despite the result being five winless seasons without a single podium. Worse still, Haas has crashed to last place from a midfield team this season in 2018.
Michael Andretti, son of former F1 champion Mario Andretti, has openly stated that he would like to expand the Andretti brand into F1 and is reportedly in talks to take control of Sauber. The American even asked if he could get Colton Herta into an F1 car for Friday’s first practice session.
The 21-year-old Andretti star is currently with IndyCar and is expected to move to F1 when Andretti gets a team. Herta tried the Formula 1 development route and moved to London alone when she was 15, but was back in the US two years later when no opportunities arose. He ended up in IndyCar and became the series’ youngest ever winner at the age of 19 – on the Circuit of the Americas – in 2019.
Striving for one of the 20 places on the F1 grid is expensive and requires enormous commitment from drivers at a very young age. Perez was a teenager when he left Mexico to go to Europe to train for F1.
“(An American driver) would be nice, but from my point of view it is very difficult to make it in Formula 1,” said Perez. “We are the ones who have to leave our homes and we have to do that at a very young age.”
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AP Auto Racing writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this.
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