It is a fact that Formula One is the most popular form of motor racing in the entire world: with a reported 800 million fans around the world during the 2004 season. So many countries around the world have fell in love with the sport. However, there is one country that seems to have very little interest in the sport: the United States of America. Why is this?
When the sport was first founded in 1950, its primary audience was the European countries; attracting mostly Italian and British drivers and constructors. It wasn’t until the 1961 that the States would see their first Formula One World Champion when Phil Hill snatched the title from Wolfgang von Trips – who suffered a fatal racing accident in the second last race – by only one point. It would then take nearly another two decades before America would experience success on this level. This lack of national success has without a doubt limited the number of American followers.
A drought of both American drivers and American constructors has also taken its toll. The last American constructor to participate in the sport was Shadow Racing Cars, however – with relatively little success in the sport and multiple fatal accidents – the team finally packed up after a dreadful 1980 season, in which they only qualified for one race. As for drivers, it is true that Alexander Rossi – a young test driver for Caterham and Marussia – is American, but fans can not cheer on a test driver. Other than test drivers, America has not saw a Formula One driver since 1993, when Michael Andretti ran one season.
And of course let’s not forget that the Americans aren’t really into international sports. No offenses to any of the American readers, but the US fans usually don’t watch sports in which their country is not the centre of attention. This may sound like just a rude statement, but it can be seen in a lot of broadcasts. For example, the American coverage of the Olympics usually consists of footage of team US competing in an event. The coverage will then change to another event that team US is participating in, while the other countries take their turns. Another thing to think of is American football; the American version of football is vastly different from football in the rest of the world. This sport is only played in a few countries. The same is true for the national sport of baseball. The so called “World Series” is only between American teams and a handful of Canadian teams. This isn’t very international.
Of course, the biggest reason that F1 is not popular in America is that Americans just enjoy their oval tracks. In an oval track, the fans can easily see all of the action. And something that any Formula One fan must admit is that Formula One is not always action packed; the total number of overtakes in the entire Formula One season is still less than the total amount of passes in the first NASCAR race of the season. The US fans need that constant action to fill their short attention spans and need for speed.
So although Formula One is the most watched sport in the entire world, it will always be average in America. The introduction of an American driver and team in the 2016 season may help to improve the number of US fans, but will still not raise it to the level of fans in other countries. Maybe if an American company purchases the sport, we will see a big increase in the volume of US fans. Nevertheless, the American fan base will never compare to the amount of US fans in the early years of the sport.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
