By Mark Gero
Formula One will return this weekend back to the United States as the second of three events in this country will take place in Austin, Texas at the famed Circuit of the Americas.
The circuit itself ran for the first grand prix when it emerged in 2012 and is an event which will have lots of entertainment, along with plenty of food and of course, racing.
But for a country which is just getting along with the sport at an improved level, the history of grand prix races goes way back to many venues before it became obvious that three races now occupy the F1 calendar.
Following one off race in Sebring, Florida and Indianapolis, Indiana in the late 1950’s and 60’s, the next events occurred in the 1970’s, when two races were on the calendar, one on the east coast of the United States, and the other on the west. Long Beach, California was the west coast venue, and it ran until 1983, when Indy Car took over its schedule, which remains today. Watkins Glen was the other site, but had a shorter life of hosting the event, and it also remains today, but for other types of motorsports.
With those two events gone, the country put up a shorter number of temporary events, which occurred in such cities as Detroit Michigan, Dallas Texas, and finally, the worst venue of all, Phoenix, Arizona.
The next venue ran for seven seasons and that was the return of Indianapolis, which went counterclockwise in comparison to the famous Indy 500 route. But considering the popularity of the site, the 2005 race was marred by a tyre problem when Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota had his Michelin explode coming off the final famous banked corner. This led to a protest by most of the cars that were running on the same compound on race day, pulled into the pits and never began. This led to only six cars beginning the event that were run on Bridgestone rubber, and the crowd booed the outcome. This put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and the track suffered because of will decide it. The event was off the F1 schedule two years later, and formula one was doubtful for America.
Enter the officials at a project at a location in Texas. The idea was late in that decade to build a new racetrack that would match the requirements for a road circuit, and the area south of the capital of Texas in Austin, located around Delle Valle was chosen, and by 2012, the United States Grand Prix was inaugurated and has been here ever since.
Now Miami, Florida and Las Vergas, Nevada have joined Austin in hosting the Formula One World Championship.
Many famous names have won this race such as Lewis Hamilton, and last season, it was the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. And it just so happens that both drivers mentioned are now teammates at the prancing horse. But this season, it is not these two that are chasing for the championship, but the McLaren series leader Oscar Piastri of Australia and his teammate Lando Norris of Great Britain. The team already clinched the constructor’s title two weeks in Singapore, but the tension is getting tight as the two are within 22 points of one another. To make things even tougher, defending and four-time world champion Max Verstappen of the Netherlands is closing in on second place Norris, although it is still a slim chance of him catching both drivers. But there are still five rounds left in the Championship, and it could get very interesting, along with the rest of the remaining races, to see who will win it all.
WHEEL2WHEEL REPORTS 