When Miami joins Austin on the F1 calendar next year, and American viewership consistently hits the highest numbers of all time, fueled by a new fan base gained by Netflix and F1’s investment in digital media, popularity hits sport in Stateside a purple blotch.
But the holy grail of commitment seems to remain an American driver. Incredibly, America’s second world champion Mario Andretti remains the country’s last race winner. 1978.
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Why don’t the best of America’s best end up in Formula 1? And what, if anything, can be done to uncork the bottle and bring America’s best racing talent back into the sport?
Ultimately, American racing drivers have two possible routes to F1, and neither is easy. You can either leave your home and embed yourself in the Europe-based ladder system via F4, F3 and F2, or you can pave your way through the “Road to Indy” and try to make a transition after achieving national success.
The first option is perhaps the most obvious route, but it takes a lot to drive properly. First of all, our young American racing driver has to decide early on that Formula 1 is where he wants to be. And by early we mean the age of 6 years. Because they also want to focus on the European go-kart leader. They will then also need serious support, and after they have left their homes it will not be easy to get hold of it.
Alexander Rossi tried his hand at F1 and drove for Marussia before returning to IndyCar
American companies want to support flag-waving, loyal, proud Americans. And if these American companies don’t want to sell their product primarily outside the U.S. in markets, F4, F3, and F2 aren’t offering them the engagement they want.
Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly discovered this a decade ago on their European trips. Both dedicated their junior careers to the goal of Formula 1, but went different ways in their marketability. While Rossi was clearly trying to make himself attractive to the European markets, Daly was fully committed to Americana. Daly was going to be a tester at Force India. Rossi would drive for Marussia.
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Both now drive in IndyCar, but it was Rossi who, despite his immediate IndyCar success, found the transition hardest when he initially struggled to be accepted by a fan base who had never heard of him and believed his American soul to have sold for the F1 dream. Daly, throwing his stars and stripes into everything he raced, was far more easily accepted.
The difficulties young American racing drivers face on the European ladder are just as evident today. Look no further than 20-year-old Logan Sargeant, a title contender last season in F3 but whose budget has dried up over the winter and who only got a last-minute deal this year to return to F3 instead Step up to F2, where his talent undoubtedly belongs.
American racing driver Logan Sargeant couldn’t find the budget to move up to F2 this year
Then there is the other route across the road to Indy – USF4, USF2000, Indy Lights and IndyCar. It’s a tried and true route, with the best often winning competitive IndyCar seats. It’s affordable too, as even a decent seat on a proper IndyCar team costs in the same region as an F2 seat.
At the same time as Rossi and Daly were on their European paths, Josef Newgarden tried GP3 but quickly returned to Stateside. He won the Indy Lights championship in his rookie season and jumped straight into IndyCar. He is now a two-time IndyCar champion. But even at its highest heights, the opportunity for an F1 crossover never came.
The days when crossovers between IndyCar and F1 were commonplace felt like they were from another life, and they were in many ways. Jacques Villenueve and Juan Pablo Montoya, moving across the Atlantic, happened about a quarter of a century ago. And so we don’t forget, for the same team: Williams.
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It’s no surprise that Alex Zanardi’s switch from ChampCar to F1 was also facilitated by Sir Frank, nor that he got close to NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon or tested IndyCar’s reigning champion and the great Scott Dixon of all time. Even then, only one team seemed ready to take the chance.
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However, today’s hurdles make this chance even smaller. First of all, a super license structure, which Formula 2 compensates via IndyCar, makes it difficult to collect the required points. Especially in view of the competitiveness of an IndyCar series whose championship has started in the last 15 seasons.
Add to that the limitation of F1 testing, which is great for saving money but keeping Villeneuve from being up to date all those years ago. What chance would such limited running offer a racer who changed categories? As each championship becomes more specialized, limited running does not allow a racer the foundation of confidence that he needs to consider a move feasible, and perhaps not for an F1 team to consider the risk worthy.
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And then there is the possibility itself. Would one of the young American IndyCar talents like Colton Herta, who start every weekend with a chance to win, give this up for something other than a seat on one of the top teams in F1? Would you want to forego a shot on the Indy 500 in order to be out of the first quarter and finish 17th in a Grand Prix?
And so we have our dilemma.
Colton Herta is a winner in the US – would he swap that for anything other than a seat on a top F1 team?
But there is light. The new regulations for 2022 were created with the intention of giving the sport parity. To create a situation where multiple teams can fight for victory every weekend. To make the championship more attractive. To make it viable for teams and drivers.
And in one of the most ambitious teams in sport there is already the promise of the potential that lies in a crossover. The young Mexican driver Patricio O’Ward, who won in Texas a few weeks ago and drives for Arrow McLaren SP, was rewarded with a test for McLaren’s F1 team in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season. A real test to assess its potential.
READ MORE: McLaren drivers are excited about the possibility of an F1 test for IndyCar star O’Ward
Ironically, O’Ward was part of Red Bull’s F1 line at one point but was dropped when it was found he didn’t have enough points to qualify for a Super License.
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Ultimately, this doesn’t show so much that the talent is there in IndyCar, so much has always been evident, but that the most influential element in all of this could simply be the association. Perhaps we could only see the potential for crossovers if young American racing drivers, even those on the Road to Indy, were given patronage or official association as part of an F1 team’s driver program.
Look over Stateside and the American talent pool at IndyCar is showing great promise. You have David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood in Indy Lights and the rather brilliant Christian Brooks in USF2000. What a great opportunity it would be if an Alpine, Aston Martin or McLaren, let alone a Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes, pulled them into the fold or to Europe …
Step forward Jak Crawford. 16 years old. Based in Europe. Race in F3. And a Red Bull Junior.
An American in Formula 1, in a good car, with a chance of victory … as Formula 1 ushers in a new era, it’s not a pipe dream. Yes, opportunities have to be opened up – but if this is the case, there is every chance that a young American racing driver will be at the center of the new dawn of Formula 1.
The post America’s Got Talent – but when will we see the country’s next F1 star? first appeared on monter-une-startup.
