Formula One In the USA

There is no doubt the Americans have it good when it comes to motor racing. Just about every weekend during the season there will be some major motor racing event somewhere within the USA, making it assessable not just for the TV watchers but for those who want to pack up their RV and watch it live. So when Formula One visits once a year it really does have a lot to live up to.

It is probably because of this that F1 has not been a permanent fixture every year. It has survived the last 7 seven years but after what can only be called a "farce" of a race in 2005, nearly went the distance again. F1 has also over the years added regulations to slow the cars down, such as narrower tyres, smaller engines, smaller wing areas and the list goes on. This was to stop the cars becoming too expensive and too fast for the narrower circuits of the rest of the world. In the States however the racetracks tend to be wider to accommodate events such as Nascar, so the cars are often flat out most of the time.

There doesn’t seem to be many American drivers who have made it big in F1, you have to go back nearly thirty years to see a real involvement at top level. However even with those reasons against F1, 100,000 spectators still came to Indianapolis to see the 2006 Grand prix. There is clearly a hard core of racing fans that want to see Michael Schumacher and other drivers without travelling up to Canada or down to South America, where the races are permanently there.

The truth is though, that F1 is one of the few sports that do not need the USA. It has such a huge following throughout the world that the USA audience is less important than other countries. Take Italy for example, it has been quoted that more Italians (Ferrari) watch every F1 race that Americans watch Nascar. Then multiply that across the world through Japan, Australia, Germany (Michael Schumacher), Spain (Alonso), Brazil and what is believed to be the home of F1, the UK ( Button and Couthard) and you have got a huge audience that puts the USA in the shade.

As a spectator watching on TV and probably there at Indianapolis, it is unlikely you will see the race of the season, the nature of the long straights and wide track, don’t allow for much overtaking or exciting driving. Fast driving yes, exciting driving no!

For me this is a real shame as there should be more effort put in to give them a show. However on saying that, the USA Grand prix tickets are considerably cheaper than elsewhere in the world. A grandstand ticket is about a third to about a fifth of the price of the equivalent ticket in the UK, with about the same audience size so that clearly puts pressure on the financial details.

The USA is used to showing the biggest and best sports events in the world but with F1, this doesn’t come across. A good day out yes, but the best motor racing experience in the world, no!

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