FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[FRAFPDD]

The reason America needs to be cracked is firstly the massive potential. Biggest economy along with China in the world.

Secondly, as the pinnacle of world sport and much like France its outrageous that country so steeped in passion for motorsport has next to nothing to do with it. Japan and Australia are the only Asian/oceanic countries that bother, and brazil is nowadays the only country that bothers from south america, its a very european sport and that needs to be addressed. Id love for Americans to join it. However........

Americans won't support a sport that Americans aren't making headway in.

Well then with all due respect americans should ditch their ego culture and start participating in world sports where an american isnt guaranteed of winning.

Beg to differ: loads of races outside Europe - just check the calendar!

All teams based in England, those that arent are in Italy or Switzerland.

Theres is no north america season, no asian season but there is a european season in the calender.

theres no asian gp nor south american gp, no african gp, but a european gp.

Pretty sure at least half the grid are european too.


You know what im getting at anyway.

[FRAFPDD]

The reason America needs to be cracked is firstly the massive potential. Biggest economy along with China in the world.

Secondly, as the pinnacle of world sport and much like France its outrageous that country so steeped in passion for motorsport has next to nothing to do with it. Japan and Australia are the only Asian/oceanic countries that bother, and brazil is nowadays the only country that bothers from south america, its a very european sport and that needs to be addressed. Id love for Americans to join it. However.......

You do realise that both Argentina and Mexico have just had consultation with the FIA about hosting races again, don't you? And there are tons of middle-eastern countries lined up...

Well then thats my misreading of the article, i was under the impression he was talking about North America.

[McLaren]

The US should have one GP and thats it.If fans turn up all well and good,but they haven't in the past,so why waste two GP's on them.
There shouldn't be two GP's anywhere,looking at how bad Spain's are ,they shouldn't have any unless they use a decent track

[FRAFPDD]

The reason America needs to be cracked is firstly the massive potential. Biggest economy along with China in the world.

Secondly, as the pinnacle of world sport and much like France its outrageous that country so steeped in passion for motorsport has next to nothing to do with it. Japan and Australia are the only Asian/oceanic countries that bother, and brazil is nowadays the only country that bothers from south america, its a very european sport and that needs to be addressed. Id love for Americans to join it. However........

Americans won't support a sport that Americans aren't making headway in.

Well then with all due respect americans should ditch their ego culture and start participating in world sports where an american isnt guaranteed of winning.

I'm sorry, did I say guaranteed of winning?

Three biggest sports, NFL, Basketball, Baseball right?

Theres no such thing as a non american team( as theyre all team based) that can win. Cause there are none, its a closeted country for sport, only rears its head at the olympics, where it does pretty well mind.

[acosmichippo]

you forget that there are Canadian teams involved in MLB and NBA, and you conveniently left out NHL which has many more Canadian teams. What I think you may have not considered is that professional sports leagues (apart from F1 due to its insane funding) are pretty much limited to a continent. It's easier for European, Asian, and South American leagues to have international tournaments simply because there are more countries in a close proximity with each other. The US attends all of the huge tournaments like the Olympics, World Cup, etc. just like any other country.

But I do agree that mass acceptance of F1 in the US depends solely on a competitive American driver OR team. Someone that can at LEAST get on a podium a few times a season. Otherwise I just don't see it happening. WB is right, we really need a Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong type of driver for F1 to take off.

[darwin dali]

you forget that there are Canadian teams involved in MLB and NBA, and you conveniently left out NHL which has many more Canadian teams. What I think you may have not considered is that professional sports leagues (apart from F1 due to its insane funding) are pretty much limited to a continent. It's easier for European, Asian, and South American leagues to have international tournaments simply because there are more countries in a close proximity with each other. The US attends all of the huge tournaments like the Olympics, World Cup, etc. just like any other country.

But I do agree that mass acceptance of F1 in the US depends solely on a competitive American driver OR team. Someone that can at LEAST get on a podium a few times a season. Otherwise I just don't see it happening. WB is right, we really need a Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong type of driver for F1 to take off.

Never took off with Mario Andretti...

[acosmichippo]

I'm not saying it WILL work. But that's the only hope, i think. In addition to pretty heavy marketing, like MW mentioned.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have said "depends solely on..."

[What's Burning?]

you forget that there are Canadian teams involved in MLB and NBA, and you conveniently left out NHL which has many more Canadian teams. What I think you may have not considered is that professional sports leagues (apart from F1 due to its insane funding) are pretty much limited to a continent. It's easier for European, Asian, and South American leagues to have international tournaments simply because there are more countries in a close proximity with each other. The US attends all of the huge tournaments like the Olympics, World Cup, etc. just like any other country.

But I do agree that mass acceptance of F1 in the US depends solely on a competitive American driver OR team. Someone that can at LEAST get on a podium a few times a season. Otherwise I just don't see it happening. WB is right, we really need a Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong type of driver for F1 to take off.

Never took off with Mario Andretti...

And it's likely that proportionally the sport was more popular here in the states because of it. You can't judge the entire success or failure of a sport on one thing, that's why I mentioned the American team, an American driver and an American sponsor... doesn't all have to be in one place they can spread them out over the grid. The many hands makes light work approach coupled with the "You have to be in it to win it" otherwise the base will never grow.

Eric Heiden was probably the single biggest influence in introducing the sport of Cycling to the US, and although he never had great success it was his name recognition as a speed skater that brought a sponsor on board and really then paved the way for people like Greg LeMond.

Here's his wiki snippet... and I believe the same type of path has to be followed in reintroducing F1 to America.

After his speed-skating career Heiden became a professional racing cyclist. He was one of the first cross-over athletes, becoming a founding member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team. Together with his former speed skating coach (and ex-bike racer), Jim Ochowicz, he conceived of the idea of a European-style sponsored team for North American riders.[1] Heiden won a few American professional races. He finished the 1985 Giro d'Italia and took part in the 1986 Tour de France, although he did not complete the race as he fell five days from the finish.

Heiden is believed to hold the unofficial record on one of the local benchmark climbs in Woodside, California: Old la Honda Rd.[2] In 1985 Heiden won the first US Professional Cycling Championship, thus becoming the American road race champion.

In 1999, Heiden was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

One race per country is enough. I don't see why the US or anywhere else needs 2 races....

So which of the two current races (each) in Spain and Italy should they cancel?

There is only 1 race in Italy these days....

These days. The GP of San Marino hasn't been excluded, it's just being avoided until it has been upgraded.

[Blinky McSquinty]

First off, the term "Grand Prix" is to denote that for each nation, there was just one race, a grand prize. To offer more than one grand prix per nation is to dilute it.

The history of Formula One in the USA is one of inconsistency and greed. Once upon a time the Indy 500 was one race on the F1 calender. Then at other times it was at lovely venues like The Glen, a haven for the purist fan. And then at other times it was held in a parking lot in Vegas. But it was also a time of competition, where CART was aggressivley stealing venues away from Formula One (Detroit Grand Prix, Watkins Glen). Once upon a time the Long Beach Grand Prix was just that, with Formula One cars. But it got replaced by CART's version, and to this day that's basically what still remains. It all came to a head when CART established a foothold in Australia, and from that day, the head honchos, Bernie and Max did not support a Grand Prix in the USA.

But money talks, and eventually Bernie realized he was losing out on income opportunities, and we saw Formula One return to Indianapolis. But that lasted less than a decade, until Bernie asked for too much money, and Tony George told him to stuff it. Indy was probably the only track that had a larger race than a Grand Prix, and they could afford to pass on Bernie. All other tracks, for example Melbourne, Montreal, or Silverstone have to scramble and beg to raise more cash when Bernie makes one of his regular price hikes, because to lose the GP would be to lose the biggest race of the season, by far. But not indy, they have NA$CAR and the Indy 500 to quite easily replace F1.

So once again, Formula One returns to the USA, and to Austin Texas. I wish them well and hope the race is a success. But I seriously question why Bernie picked the middle of summer for a race in Texas.

But it's going to be a very difficult battle attacting and retaining Formula One fans in the USA. NA$CAR is huge there, someone who has never experienced NA$CAR first-hand does not realize how pervasive it is in US culture and everyday life. To achieve realistic expectations of fan interest in the USA, a US driver is almost mandatory. Scott Speed was on that track until the USGP was cancelled. Anyone ever notice the co-incidence of when he left F1 and the termination of F1 at Indy? On 12 July 2007, Formula One and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced that the 2007 U.S. Grand Prix would be the last one held at IMS for the foreseeable future, as both sides could not agree on the terms for the event. On 31 July 2007 Speed was released from his contract at Scuderia Toro Rosso and replaced by BMW Sauber test driver Sebastian Vettel. Mind you, Scott had a lot of issues with his team throughout 2007, but I suspect this was relevant and maybe the deciding factor for Red Bull's decision to sack Speed.

OK, OK, forget Danica, she's not going to drive a Formula One car, let's please make a gentle return to reality. But somewhere there has to be a US driver involved. A US team would help too. And it's not impossible, I remember watching Penske and Shadow at the grid.

[f1usa]

The reason America needs to be cracked is firstly the massive potential. Biggest economy along with China in the world.

Secondly, as the pinnacle of world sport and much like France its outrageous that country so steeped in passion for motorsport has next to nothing to do with it. Japan and Australia are the only Asian/oceanic countries that bother, and brazil is nowadays the only country that bothers from south america, its a very european sport and that needs to be addressed. Id love for Americans to join it. However........

Americans won't support a sport that Americans aren't making headway in.

Well then with all due respect americans should ditch their ego culture and start participating in world sports where an american isnt guaranteed of winning.

Beg to differ: loads of races outside Europe - just check the calendar!

All teams based in England, those that arent are in Italy or Switzerland.

Theres is no north america season, no asian season but there is a european season in the calender.

theres no asian gp nor south american gp, no african gp, but a european gp.

Pretty sure at least half the grid are european too.


You know what im getting at anyway.

Yeah, today is July 4th "Independence Day", you catch my drift.............son...........

[FRAFPDD]

The reason America needs to be cracked is firstly the massive potential. Biggest economy along with China in the world.

Secondly, as the pinnacle of world sport and much like France its outrageous that country so steeped in passion for motorsport has next to nothing to do with it. Japan and Australia are the only Asian/oceanic countries that bother, and brazil is nowadays the only country that bothers from south america, its a very european sport and that needs to be addressed. Id love for Americans to join it. However........

Americans won't support a sport that Americans aren't making headway in.

Well then with all due respect americans should ditch their ego culture and start participating in world sports where an american isnt guaranteed of winning.

Beg to differ: loads of races outside Europe - just check the calendar!

All teams based in England, those that arent are in Italy or Switzerland.

Theres is no north america season, no asian season but there is a european season in the calender.

theres no asian gp nor south american gp, no african gp, but a european gp.

Pretty sure at least half the grid are european too.


You know what im getting at anyway.

Yeah, today is July 4th "Independence Day", you catch my drift.............son...........

Ive missed the implication?

And its actually " Cant be arsed with the miffed colonials" day today

[Bubbie]

CART was HUGE in North America back in the days of Mario/Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jacques Villeneuve, etc. Indy-Car racing is pretty big (although why anyone would want to watch it is beyond me).

I don't think that more than 1 race in the US is the answer (but maybe with the size of the country it is possible). Maybe better time shifting of all F1 races. I would definitely say better coverage teams would be required as well (I get mine from the BBC including the run-up and it makes a huge difference over the coverage from Versus or Fox which suuuuuucccckkkkk).

Allowing a top-line US team on the grid would also go a long way in endearing F1 to Americans. Also a driver or two that can prove they are up to the task (Danica is not that person) would help. That way they would have someone to cheer for.

North America is ready to embrace F1. Let's get 'er done.

[killem2]

One side of me would love to see a night time new york city race that blasts by time square, but at the same time, i'd never be able to go because of the cost it would no doubt be LOL.

[Hammer278]

I couldn't gve much of a damn if USA had 1 or 2 or even 3 race tracks....but no more street circuits please. We have enough. The Brickyard should come back, and maybe Austin, it looks a half decent track already.

I hate all the street circuits bar Monaco. What's the point? Huge tracks with plenty of runoff areas, though the barriers are armco/tyre....big whoop.