There’s currently no race here in the US, the nearest is Montreal, Canada. Where do you think would be the best place to have an F1 race. Keep in mind, F1 safety standards are super tough, thus tracks like Laguna Seca wouldn’t be considered unless they spend a ton of money in upgrades. Or should it be a street course, maybe through New York or Las Vegas?
Posted May 9th, 2010 in F1 FAQ by admin 
I would love to see them race at the Daytona International Speedway.
Our best chance to land another F1 race here in the US (and keep it!) is to build a big track like Abu Dhabi in Las Vegas. The opportunities for publicity, gambling revenue, etc to pay the dwarf what he wants to award the race to us is there. Plus it’s Vegas…there’s no shortage of accomodations for anyone and everyone who wants to watch a race. But like Abu Dhabi, it needs to be a night race, which is of course, perfect for a city like Vegas.
A revised Watkins Glen will always get my vote. Laguna Seca is Americas best race track but I feel it would be ruined making it F1 friendly.
They should definitely come back to Indy. IMS has already spent the tens of millions necessary to adapt the track (and also the facilities) to be hospitable to F1. It isn’t just the track upgrades that are necessary. It is also facilities for the team and the press. Most people probably don’t realize that IMS had to build a completely new garage area just for F1 (it’s not used for IndyCar or NASCAR) and vastly expanded the press boxes to accommodate the large number of international journalists.
The USGP at Indianapolis also had attendance at the top of the list, save for Monaco. And still it became a money losing proposition in the last couple years, due to the massive sanctioning fees. They either need a title sponsor willing to put up tens of millions or government subsidies to cover the sanctioning fees.
So nobody is going to build or upgrade a track just to lose money on the race. Unless local government subsidize the sanctioning fees, no sane track owner will host a race. I had heard once that Indy and Silverstone were the only F1 races not subsidized by tax dollars. There are a lot of great road courses in the US that would make for great racing. The only financially realistic option, however, is to come back to Indy with more reasonable sanctioning fees that would make business sense for F1 and IMS. I don’t think anyone else is going to be able to put the necessary money on the table.
The GP needs to go to a track where the public can see F1 cars running at the limit. Messing around in Las Vegas car parks, or around the streets of Detroit or Phoenix is NEVER going to take F1 to the heart of the US motorsport fan. Only one US street circuit is capable of putting on a half-decent F1 race, and that is Long Beach. That is also the best short term option to host the race, as none of the US road courses are up to F1 standards.
Going back to Indy would be a mistake. The course is poor, and the spectacle compares badly to Indycars, as the F1 cars can never approach the limit of their capabilities. Daytona – even the “infield” course – would be a joke too. Rule out seeing F1 on an oval or tri-oval PLEASE.
The best – and most expensive – option is to remodel one of the existing road courses. My personal favourite is Road Atlanta, there isn’t another stretch of race track in the whole US to touch those downhill sweepers. F1 cars through there would be amazing. Shame that the track and facilities are so decrepit. Laguna Seca suffers for the same reason, but again, F1 cars through the corkscrew would be something to see; also Watkins Glen, which I fear would simply be classed as too dangerous in the modern era. Maybe the track which would need the least work is Elkhart Lake – the problem being that it is so isolated and the transport links and local infrastructure are so basic that there wouldn’t be a hope in hell of getting the GP there.
To conclude: go back to Long Beach until somebody comes up with the money to bring a road course up to standard.
I agree that Road America is the only track that is close enough to FIA standards to put on a REAL race on a purpose-built road course in the US, but that it’s just too far from population centers to be financially viable.
I think either Indy or a new track in Las Vegas would be the only viable alternatives, but a new track would need to be capable of letting F1 cars reach some decent speeds and have some challenges for the drivers.
I personally wanted Laguna Seca, Road America but there would be too much needed on upgrades, plus why let Herr Tilke ruin them
I wouldn’t like it to go back to Indy, there is nothing to write about apart from the name – which is like buying a crappy watch for just the designer label
but I think the old Miami Grand Prix courses (like the one in the 80’s IMSA days) would be the most ideal, they have this Monaco image to it for a start
Put it at Indy until someone builds a new course, of course the only reason that the u.s. doesn’t have a GP is that they’re afraid of defecits o_o what else?
I would like to see a brand new track in the US dedicated to GP2, F1 & GP3. Indy is old and tired there are too many different surfaces all over the track and the others are viable, though Laguna Seca is one of my fav tracks in the world, it couldn’t host a race.
A new track would be good, but one designed and centred around the classics rather than the new era of track design.
Only thing I’d have to say about Laguna Seca is that personally I don’t think that the F1 cars could handle the cork screw too many times. The floor is a lot closer to the ground then most of the cars that race there, that would be my only concern. Only been following F1 for a few years, but I wouldn’t mind seeing F1 back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
I think they should go to daytona it would be soemthing different because it’s been a long time since F1 has raced on any track with banking so it would be pretty cool so see them racing on the High banks of daytona
Build a new state of the art track in the center of the country, advertise like crazy, and with Todt as F1 President, get the thing to stay.
If you get the big boys involved, Penske, Andretti, Gannassi, George, even France, there would be a good chance of it being bigger and better than many others.
The track would have to be a challenge with varying elevations, at least one long straight, and very good visibility.
I think either NE Kansas, NW Missouri, SE Nebraska, or SW Iowa could qualify with rolling hills and beautiful country. Transportation is good with access to two excellent airports, and three interstates. There are excellent hotels and motels within 1 hour’s drive.
First off, just to clear up some things about Laguna Seca as there seems to be so many misconceptions about it. First, there would be no problem with an F1 car driving through the corkscrew. Plenty of cars with similar dimensions and clearance do this every year without issue. F1 cars have tested here and have experienced no problems.
As to the track itself? The changes that were made in the 1980s were done with the goal of bringing it up to some FIA standards, mainly minimal length. The reprofiling in recent years for MotoGP puts it very close to being FIA approved for F1… It’s unlikely any changes would be needed to the track itself (maybe paving one or two of the run off areas?).
The big problems here would be with track access based on it’s location and the access roads, and the likely demands to further upgrade the paddock and other race facilities (Laguna Seca is owned by the local governemnt and operated by a non-profit… I cannot see this combination willing to pay the race fees that would be required by Bernie).
That said, Laguna Seca would still be near the top of my list as it’s a track I frequent as both a driver and a spectator and it could be a good F1 venue. Mid-Ohio would also rank highly.
Barber Motorsport Park stands out as a possibility in my mind. It seems well funded, is a new complex, and it’s management seems anxious to host high profile events. Short of a return to Indy, I think this is the most likely destination.
A street race would be most likely in Las Vegas, but not at all likely until the economy brings more money back there… and at that time, it would probably be more likely that more work would be done on the road course at LVMS. With the large money potentially available here, a full build out of the newer course would immediately make this the most likely spot if the economy begins moving briskly again.
New York. It would suit the modern image that F1 is now taken. The races use to be in the country side but now more circuits are being built in the city.
No street courses whatsoever thank you. Most boring racing in F1.
A new, purpose built track near Las Vegas. Hold the event in spring or fall. All the glitz and money everyone loves.