The Expansion of F1 Racesįirst it was Austin. It was an enormous success and made even backmarker drivers suddenly famous in the United States. What’s more important is at the same time Liberty Media gave access to a production company and Netflix to film behind-the-scenes of F1 and expose fans to the drama of the sport and teams like Haas and Red Bull. Technically, in between all of this, an American company fronted by Gene Haas started an F1 team called Haas F1. When Liberty Media bought the company they opened the doors to social media and improved accessibility to the sport via streaming platforms. If you were an American, there was not a huge reason to watch it, even if NBC Sports (which, full disclosure, I did some work with) did an ok job at trying to broadcast it. It was still enamored with linear TV deals. The old guard who owned F1, in my opinion, did a bad job with the sport. Liberty Media Buys F1Īn American company, Liberty Media, buys F1.
I was there (with Patrick) and it was a lot of fun and super strange because no one seemed to know what to do with it. Then, in 2012, the brand new Circuit of the Americas hosted the first rebranded U.S.
The Sport Comes Back To AmericaĪfter a disastrous end to racing at Indy, a surging NASCAR made F1 barely a necessity in the United States and there was a five-year drought. The Senna EffectĬredit to my old boss JF Musial for good timing with this Road & Track piece on how Asif Kapadia’s wonderful 2010 film Senna, covering the life and death of Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, sparked an interest in the sport. So why now? Let’s list the reasons, in chronological order: 1. F1 is enormously expensive and American automakers have been content to race in NASCAR, with Ford/GM/Chrysler occasionally competing at Le Mans, though typically in the sports car classes (Cadillac, it’s worth noting, is going back to Le Mans with this beautiful hypercar.)
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