“As for the future of the US Grand Prix, we all hear the same encouraging words from Indianapolis, and we know the sport's stakeholders want to be here. I can't see the race going anywhere but Indy, and with the Speedway's centennial coming, adding F1 to its current line-up of
MotoGP, NASCAR and a reconstituted Indycar series would be spectacular.”
“If there aren't [any F1 races in America] it would be a crime,” agreed former grand prix ace David Hobbs. “The USA needs and deserves a race or two.”
Ex-
Williams team manager and
Ferrari general manager Peter Windsor, though, was rather less hopeful of seeing Indy return to the schedule, even if he acknowledged the depth of passion and enthusiasm that had built up amongst American fans for a sport that until the turn of the millennium had been somewhat alien to them.
“Plenty of discussions are taking place,” the respected journalist agreed. “However, there are now only two circuits on the calendar not fully underwritten by governments of countries – Australia (local government only) and Britain. Both are looking weak.
“The loss incurred by every other race in the championship is absorbed by the country concerned – and F1 in return gives that country the status of being in the championship. That's the way F1 works; it is a global TV sport. Spectators present on the day are completely irrelevant to the business model.
F1, therefore, is very foreign to the way US sports promoters work.
“Will the US federal government ever think in F1 terms? Definitely not. Is there an individual out there – or a group of individuals – who can do for America what the government of Abu Dhabi does for Abu Dhabi? Probably.
