A decade after his disappearance in the country, he has three races on the calendar, competes in audiences with NASCAR and is a ‘cool’ phenomenon. The last frontier is to get a Yankee champion: at the moment there is only one pilot on the grid, Sargeant
“It’s funny that Formula 1 has now become popular in the United States. In fact, it has become something cool, there are people following the races that until now did not even know they existed. If even my wife has been hooked. The other day she told me: ‘Hey, what you did at the World Cup was very good.’ And I thought: ‘Finally they realize it’ ».
The American anecdote Scott Speed, Toro Rosso driver in 2006 and 2007, perfectly illustrates the evolution of Formula 1 in his country in recent years. That purely European competition that did not even set foot on North American soil between 2008 and 2011 has now become a phenomenon that competes in audiences on ESPN with NASCAR, which has attracted more than 100 companies yankees as sponsors and that has generated three holes in the World Cup calendar: this Sunday it will run on the urban circuit in Miami (9:30 p.m., DAZN), in October it will travel to Austin and in November, to the new urban circuit in Las Vegas. The development has an obvious reason: at the end of 2016 Liberty Media, an American media company, bought Formula 1 for 4.4 billion dollars. But there are more reasons.
“Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive, changed things. With that part of drama, the public began to get to know the pilots and the popularity of the sport here grew a lot, “analyzes Speed and he is right. Today there are thousands of sports documentaries scattered across all platforms, but the Drive to Survive, released in March 2019, that is, shortly before the pandemic, was a unique success. Worldwide it had millions of viewers, but it was a big hit mainly in the United States, the most important market for Netflix, where it has 74 million subscriptions.
According to a study by the consulting firm Morning Consult published in early 2022, “almost half of Americans who identify themselves as Formula 1 fans admit that they have started following the World Cup in the last five years” and “almost three out of every four fans of Formula 1 in the United States under the age of 45 attribute their interest in the competition to the documentary Drive to Survive».
For this reason, and as an example, Daniel Ricciardogreat protagonist of the first season of the Drive to Survive of Netflix and, at the same time, a pilot in decline, without a steering wheel this 2023, continues to be famous in the United States, with a presence at the last Met Gala -where Anne Hathawayadmitted to him that he was a fan of Formula 1- and recent appearances in prime time on TV shows like The Daily Show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Death after Indy 2005
How far is the Indianapolis scandal in 2005. Due to safety problems caused by Michelin tires, only six drivers contested that test -with victory for Michael Schumacher- and, among fans throwing objects onto the track, something broke between the United States and Formula 1. “We will see if we miss the United States,” he even declared Bernie Ecclestone, then master and lord of Formula 1, to the brawl with the owners of the Indiana circuit. And shortly after the World Cup left the country. In 2012 Austin was included in the calendar, but the competition continued to be residual, a contest that did not even have a television broadcast, a competition of little interest there.
The arrival of Liberty Media -with an agreement with ESPN under its belt- and the Drive to Survive they changed everything. Now each Formula 1 race exceeds one million spectators and in its own tests, those held in Austin or Miami, at a favorable time and with celebrities in the public, they have come to exceed two million, that is, they have touched NASCAR’s own numbers.
The next step, beyond organizing a fourth race – there are projects near New York, in Long Beach and even in Charlotte, an emblematic setting for NASCAR – is to get an American driver to fight for the victories or, at least, get closer to the podium. The creation of the Haas team in 2014 was already a success, but having a champion is not just a matter of money. It’s a culture thing. «There is plenty of talent, but a whole context is needed, finding the right moment. The fact that Formula 1 is popular here now will help some young people to try adventure, “says Speed, detailing the problem.
To reach Formula 1, an American driver needs to go through the training events, which are held mainly in Europe, and/or enter the youth ranks of one of the teams. Today it is difficult for a kid from California to abandon his path towards NASCAR or Indycar to go live in the United Kingdom, for example, and participate in British Formula 4 or in the European Regional Formula. Did logan sergeant, current Williams driver, the only North American on the grid, penultimate still without points, but more compatriots are needed. If someone appears capable of succeeding Phil Hill (1961) and mario andretti (1978) as third champion yankee of history the boom would be enormous. From nothing, Formula 1 has resurrected America and now it can grow to infinity.
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