Formula 1 has always craved acceptance in the US, and it’s usually a market that struggles to crack whatever it takes.
It wasn’t until last year – the 10th US Grand Prix of Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One career – that he thinks he and the sport finally found that sense of belonging with the US.
With 400,000 contestants, it attracted the most viewers on the entire calendar while over a million people watched from the comfort of their homes in the United States.
Hamilton narrowly missed the race win for Max Verstappen but left Texas backed by the bigger picture. “I think that’s definitely our admission to the United States,” he said.
The suggestions may just be an anomaly for the return of sports fans who previously refused a live presence in the Covid era, as the sale of 240,000 fans at this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix was dumped.
Finally, F1 in the US is in vogue. Celebrities who have found their way into Miami’s inner circle include David Beckham, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, the Williams sisters, The Rock and Pharrell Williams. Interest is expected to mount.
This is the first season since 1984 that there have been two US races on the calendar. Next year sees a third addition to the Saturday Night Race in Las Vegas.
The last time I raced F1 in Vegas, I did it in the Caesars Palace car park. This time around, Hamilton, Verstappen and the rest of the network are going to tear down the sector, a bold concept that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
So keen on the US is F1 as an organisation, they have signed up as co-promoters for the Vegas night race, while manufacturers looking to sell cars in the country are enjoying the growing US presence.
TV viewing numbers are also on the rise. There was a 58 per cent increase in viewership numbers last year, and this season so far they are up 35 per cent, with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix proving the largest audience for US television in Formula One since 1995 with more than 1.5 million viewers.
Sports chiefs are optimistic about the American invasion, attempts that until recently amounted to endless head scratchers.
In one of his last interviews before stepping down from running the sport, Bernie Ecclestone spoke about why it was so hard to do business with the United States. He noted that it was very fast and furious, and not long enough for the average American. He also said that the future of the sport lies in the Asian markets, not across the pond.
When Liberty Media bought the sport in 2017, it unabashedly made its first ambition to successfully establish itself in the psyche of the American sports fan.
Central to this success was the launch of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive in March 2018, which many thought was doomed with title champs Mercedes and Ferrari opting out initially.
But the series did create a kind of theater—often innovative but highly viewable—which audiences in the United States simply did. Stefano Domencali, chief executive of F1, said of its impact: “Netflix has played a very important role in reaching new fans and bringing out the passion and drama behind the sport.” This was such an obvious success that other sports have signed up to do their own versions.
However it is still early days. Viewing numbers on ESPN are still a small part of the US market – unsurprisingly for an emerging sport in the eyes of most Americans – but the rights bid for 2023 and beyond has presumably sparked interest from NBC, Fox and Amazon, as F1 chiefs seek to Get reported British pounds. 60 million a year.
There is still a long way to go in other areas. F1 at least has an American team in Haas, central to its Drive to Survive stories thanks to mercurial Italian team boss Guenther Steiner, but no driver yet. And Michael Andretti pressing for a second US team.
But the last US world champion was Andretti’s father, Mario, in 1978, and the last full-time driver was Scott Speed in 2007.
That was the same year the US Grand Prix was scrapped from the calendar until its return in 2012, the damage done by the PR disaster at the 2005 edition in Indianapolis where only six cars raced following safety concerns over the rest of the field on Michelin tyres.
If this has been Formula 1’s nadir in the US, last year has been the polar opposite and signs are that this will comfortably be the most watched season in US Formula One history.
For a long time, F1 has struggled to find a home on American shores from Indianapolis to Sebring, Riverside to Watkins Glen. In 2023, she has three, and the sport argues that this is just the beginning.
