Inspired by a booming interest in Formula 1, in the United States particularly, Stefano Domenicali is bullish about the future of the sport in the country, targeting to make each Grand Prix into a “Super Bowl” that American fans can relate to.
The Netflix-produced Drive to Survive series has shot F1 onto the collective mass media in the USA, with three races – including a return to Las Vegas – and, who knows, even more on the cards if the momentum continues. For now, a record 24-races for next season is the limit for teams.
Nevertheless, the boom has been palpable, as F1 has courted the United States many times in the past six decades but was always ‘B-movie’ in status so to speak, until of late when it has Blockbuster status all over it with every A-Lister from Brad Pitt to Shaquille O’Neal to Megan Thee Stallion to Ed Sheeran and so many more all keen on F1 action.
But a largely fruitless journey in time has been long, the first FIA-sanctioned Grand Prix on U.S. soil was at Sebring in 1959. Since then the Grand Prix has appeared in different guises at Watkins Glen, Indianapolis, Detroit, Phoenix, Dallas, Sebring, Riverside, Las Vegas in the seventies and, of course, currently in Austin as well as Miami, and Vegas-Reloaded in 2023.
It was such a quick turnaround for F1 in America
However, not until ‘Drive to Survive’ turned the lights on for the American collective has the renaissance been real, and that’s not so long ago as Domenicali explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: “It was such a quick turnaround, really a matter of two years. An incredible switch-on that before was not there.”
In Las Vegas last week to launch the race in the city, scheduled for next year, Domenicali used one of America’s favorite sport’s as a reference to what F1 is targeting: “Our vision, which is everywhere we go, we want to create a Super Bowl, much easier to understand if you have an American mentality.”
Despite the fact that this year’s two F1 titles are already sealed by Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team, interest in ‘being there’ ensures that Brazil Interlagos is a sellout this weekend as is Abu Dhabi the weekend after, where organizers have added more grandstands to Yas Marina for the season finale.
Domenicali told the WSJ reporter that the final two ‘dead-rubbers’ so to speak, had no impact on demand: “Actually, we don’t see any kind of risk at all and, first of all, we have the last race with tickets sold out, and really good numbers.”