Fraser MasefieldThere have been several attempts since the inception of Formula One Racing to break into the USA. To really crack America and get that vitally important audience hooked.
It’s not hard to understand why. As far as television audiences are concerned, NASCAR is king. It totally dominates, dwarfing even IndyCar in terms of television viewers and attendees.
With the Austin Grand Prix in Texas now at the very top of most F1 fans bucket list, the USA has really embraced F1 as one of the go-to destinations with Miami and Las Vegas now also on the calendar. But it hasn’t always been the case, and the road to success has been as steep as the COTA straight incline.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF F1 TIME IN THE USA
Officially, the USGP has been held since 1908 when known as the ‘Grand Prize’. Since those early days, it has flitted in and out of the Formula One calendar, notably Jim Clark winning at Watkins Glen in 1962 before Graham Hill dominated the next three years before a 66 and 67 Clark double.
Sir Jackie Stewart claimed two victories in 1968 and 1972 before fellow Brit James Hunt bagged back-to-back wins in 1976 and 1977. Carlos Reutemann, the brilliant Argentine, was also a double GP winner in 1974 and 1978.
Following brief experiments in Detroit, Dallas and even a car park in Las Vegas, there followed a hiatus born of unfit circuits and dwindling interest in in the USA. F1 still couldn’t find a home there.
Indeed, Formula One didn’t return to the USA until Detroit in 1986, when a certain young Brazilian by the name of Ayrton Senna dominated – winning three years consecutively before back-to-back wins in Phoenix in 1990 and 1991.
Surely that should have been enough to grab the attention of the NASCAR and IndyCar US fans? It wasn’t. The circuit was poor, the promotion sub level and despite the best efforts of Bernie Ecclestone, it wasn’t until 2000 and Indianapolis that F1 returned. To another flop. An absolute catastrophe.
The famous Indianapolis 500 circuit, world renowned as the ‘BrickYard’, hosed Formula One from 2000 to 2007. The premise was simple. Half the famous IndyCar banking and half an intricate F1 style street circuit.
It worked okay-ish for the first few years, despite an awfully contrived staged dead heat between the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in 2002.
And then, as fans appeared in their droves in 2005, F1 again shot itself in the foot. There had long been a tyre war in F1. On this occasion it was Michelin vs. Bridgestone. Most of the cars on the grid favoured the Michelin compound.
However, due to a series of catastrophic tyre failures on the same famous banking during practice and qualifying, notably a huge impact that rendered Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher unconscious, Michelin were left with no option than to withdraw all cars from race day.
It meant for a farcical scenario, with only the Bridgestone shod Ferraris, Jordans and Minardis taking the grid to howls of derision. Most of the crowd had left long before the chequered flag.
A FRESH START
From those self-inflicted wounds, it took a further five years to come up with another plan to win over the USA to Formula One. And, thanks to a new breed of ownership, venue and F1 generation of fans.
The venue was Austin, Texas. A sprawling vibrant student city ready to embrace. A far cry from the narrow street circuits of years gone by, the Hermann-Tilke designed masterpiece is loved by drivers, incorporating the best Suzuka, Silverstone and Hockenheim into its 5.513km long, 20 turn spectacle.
Perhaps the most spectacular feature is the dramatic elevation changes, none moreso than the uphill run into Turn 1 – a climb of 133 feet from bottom to top.
The construction of the Circuit of the Americas was also revolutionary, utilizing GPS-based 3D paving equipment for highly accurate asphalt laying. It was a first for F1 tracks at the time and since successfully replicated in new circuit builds.
And it certainly seems to have done the trick in well and truly putting F1 back on the US map. In 2022, COTA set an F1 record in 2022 with a three-day attendance of approximately 440,000 fans.
KEY FACTS AND STATS
- Lewis Hamilton is the undisputed king of COTA. The seven-times world champion has the most wins at five and the most pole positions at three.
- His current Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc holds the lap record, however, with a stunning time of 1m36.169s.
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Spanish Grand Prix, Thursday 19th May 2022. Barcelona, Spain.
