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Should a new venue be built for formula 1 in the United States?

I just don't quite get the appeal with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The track is just not suited to Formula 1 racing at all in my opinion and the course is quite unimaginative. Do you think that resources should be invested into building a brand new state of the art track in the United States to bring up national viewership for Formula 1?

Public Comments

  1. Maybe. I think they used Indy because they hoped to get more fans by using one of the most storied raceways in the United States. Of course, a new track in the States would be great, but only if there is enough demand for one.
  2. Not a new venue, just put the money in an existing track. There are plenty of great tracks around the US that would be more interesting than the road course at Indy. It would be great to see F1 back at Watkins Glen. Sears Point, with all the elevation changes would be cool, too. The coolest would be to see how the F1 cars could handle the "corkscrew" at Laguna Sega. There hasn't been a good race there since Alex Zinardi made "the pass".
  3. We have plenty of tracks already. Just move the race to Watkins Glen where it used to be or even Daytona.
  4. as long as they don't use my tax money to build it they can knock themselves out. but it would be a waste of time and effort, F1 will never approach the popularity of NASCAR, where the racing is much more exciting and the cars acually pass each other, and the same 2 guys don't win every race
  5. True, the Formula One circuit at Indianapolis isn't a classic, however, the reason the U.S. Grand Prix is run there is because Tony George is the only person who was willing to build the track, the (first class) facilities and pay the estimated $15 million fee to Bernie Ecclestone, then rely on ticket sales to recoup some of the costs. There isn't another track owner/promoter in the U.S. who would build a new facility to host the U.S. Grand Prix under those conditions (rely only on ticket sales). There are plenty of great tracks in the U.S. if we are just talking layout - Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid Ohio, Virginia International Raceway ... but none are close to Formula One standard when it comes to safety, pits, paddock or the ancillary facilities associated with racetracks. A new track wouldn't bring up national viewership and, let's not forget, unimaginative as Indianapolis may be, the estimated crowd for the 2006 U.S. Grand Prix was 130,000. Even though 20,000 of those were there on freebie tickets, curtesy of Michelin, the crowd was still bigger than that of other races, particularly the British and French Grands Prix. I'm sure this isn't the answer you wanted, but it's my opinion, a reasoned one, I hope.
  6. I read in an issue of the famous/infamous Red Bulletin that certain people in the USA would like a return of F1 back to Las Vegas, the man leading the treaties being casino magnate Steve Wynn, according to the media. But these might just be simply rumours spread by an obsessed media.
  7. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is OK to me, but Ferrari won there all the time!!! I'm cheering for Renault and Fernando Alonso, so I want another track to be built, so they can win for ONCE in the USA!!!
  8. the indianapolis speedway is one of teh most famous, you have to remember that formula 1 is largely popular in europe so indy has a history with existing fans and they have heard of it before i think its more likely that they wll have a second venue than a new venue, traditionallly another on the west coast like phoenix, arizona or there has been talk of using las vegas street circuit that will appeal to a larger audience in america and give people more of a chance to see formula 1, it will happen in the couple of years as red bull promotes scott speed to main formula 1 team
  9. I'm not a big fan of Indy at all. And I don't know anyone who likes F1 there. Did you see the results of the FIA survey last year? Indy didn't score very high. There's rumours of a race in Las Vegas, which I think would be a good idea. If people go watch horrible singing acts down there, surely they'd watch something that's actually interesting like F1? I definitely think they should look into a new track, or even go back to one of the existing ones like Watkins Glen. But I'm pretty sure it'll stay at Indy for the forseeable future.
  10. Yes. I've been to WG, Road Atl, Road Am (favorite venue), Mid-Ohio, Brainerd, Laguna, and all are great facilities. Unless WG can get the cash to grow it's pits, there's little chance on a really interesting track being able to handle an event of that size. The track would need hills, a couple of high speed corners, maybe a really tricky off camber turn and multiple lines onto the front straight. Or, in a really bold move, the older multipurpose tracks could have their road courses renovated. Michigan Int'l has a 4 mile road course that exits off the back straight, tears through some hills and rejoins the oval a the entrance to turn 3. Pocono has something similar, and I think Talladega used to.
  11. How many do you want Mr greedy?
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