Why has the US never warm up to F1?

Question

F1 brings money, new technology, fashion, scandals, accidents, lots of tourism, publicity and so on. Why hasn't it become more popular in the States. I live in Canada and there is one event that I program a year in advance and that is the F1 at Montreal. So, why isn't there more passion for F1 in America, guys and girls?

Answer 1

As an American--born and raised--but of international descent, I will answer this as candidly as I can, while trying to be objective and fair.

Americans tend to view the world through "American-made" glasses. The world is most rosy when it's coloured red, white and blue. Americans like to see the label "made in America" on more than just their pickup trucks and shirt labels. Simply put, Americans love almost anything "American made", even it it's manufactured, in part, outside of the United States.

I could end my response there, but I will instead end with this: There is a bit of apathy of the part of Americans toward anything founded outside our shores. Formula One is just such a scapegoat, and while I, as an American find F1 fascinating, from many viewpoints, the general American public, particularly Nascar fans, cannot stomach watching and supporting what many view as a patently "un-American" series known as F1. Americans aren't big on soccer, cycling, tennis, or F1. It's the "American sports", American football, baseball, hockey, basketball that seem to thrill Americans.

There's a lot more I could say, but this would become more political than is appropriate.

Oh, and I knew I'd be stepping on some toes here, but, well, apparently, that's what we Americans are good at! Oops, I just got political!

Answer 2

Because what F1 does NOT have is:

1. American drivers. Or even drivers with distinct personalities. I know it's hard to be witty and interesting in a foreign language, but nothing is more dire than the F1 post-race press conference. 'Three mannequins mumbling in a monotone' is not entertaining, nor does it endear the mannequins to me.

2. Dramatic on-track competition. F1 racing is a pale shadow of what it once was. When the top half of the field routinely finishes in the same order as it started, that's not a race, it's a time trial.

Thirty years ago F1 had an American driver (Andretti) and the racing was often terrific. There was overtaking, there were lead changes, and it wasn't always the same couple guys winning all the time. I don't have stats but my perception is that F1 was much more popular in the US at the time.

I've been watching F1 again this year, and it's had its moments. On the whole though I have to wonder why it's still so popular in other countries.

Answer 3

It may be similar to the reason soccer is not too popular in the US. i.e. Americans like to have their own sport and the rest of the world does not necessarily dictate what they watch.

It also may be the times the races are on in the states. I very rarely watched F1 until I got DirecTivo. It was too hard to get up early on Sunday morning to watch the race and my favorite part was the standing start.

Once I got Tivo, I started watching the races when I was awake, and began understanding the strategies from race to race and appreciating the intricacies of the races behind the races. Very often, the best part of the weekend is the knockout qualifying and it is hard to convince someone who is not already into F1 to watch qualifying in addition to the race.

Just moving the races to the afternoon and showing them on tape delay also will not work because most Americans need to know that the sport they are watching is going on NOW (live). So, it may be a catch 22 and F1 will always be a niche sport in the USA. I know that I will miss the USGP as we decided this June that we were definitely going next year. Now we have to figure out if we can find a way to swing a trip to Montreal.

Answer 4

Bring it back to Long Beach, CA the merchants loved it, the F1 people come and spend tons of money, it was a champagne crowd, now we are stuck with CART, a cheap beer crowd. We use to get over 300,000 people in Long Beach, it was great..I went to 1 CART race and have never gone back... I went to several US Grand Prixs in Watkins Glen they always had a decent crowd, a very international crowd.. Went to 2 in Detroit, it was okay, but not like Long Beach or Watkins Glen... Theres no "Good" american or any american drivers, the TV coverage is not that great either anymore, I'm not getting up at 4:30am out here on the west coast to watch the races.. Also, after Schuey retired theres only a few big names that people have heard of over, F1 never gets any media coverage over here on TV...Back when Jackie Stewart was driving it was on TV and you heard about F1.. Heck I barely see it even covered in newspapers.. Its a very colorful sport.. I don't even think the McLaren & Ferrari scandal has gotten alot of publicity over here unless you follow F1... Its missing the great personalities of formula 1 that use to be in the sport, and races in this country,and a top notch american driver, that can get tons of media exposure...Remember F1 competes with Nascar, and Nascar is everywhere...I like both Nascar and F1 and IRL.

Answer 5

it's all down to the coverage and the marketing of the F1 brand. it is not well promoted in the US and with money grabbing Bernie at the helm there is no US GP this year. F1 is predominantly European. It is like here in the UK we get NASCAR coverage at stupid O'clock in the morning so not many Brits watch it.

Answer 6

That is like asking why american football and NASCAR are not more popular in other countries ... each social group has its own preferences ... there are sections of the US thast love to watch F1 and hate NASCAR and vice versa ...

I am sure if you were to fork over the sponsoship money, yourself, you might find a lot more interest than you thought there was ;)

Answer 7

There hasn't been a succesful American driver in a long time. I doubt Europeans would be interested in F1 if there were no European drivers. Besides, what's wrong with global diversity?

Answer 8

Formula one is broadcast at odd hours on odd channels in the US with boring monotone announcers. The broadcasts don't include a realistic sound of the cars or the crowd excitement like the Nascar broadcast. As a racing person I watch and understand the F-1 coverage but it isn't fan friendly, especially new fan friendly.

This isn't a political question it's that the presentation of F-1 to americans has been bland.

Answer 9

1. The racing is horrible. Its just fast follow the leader.
2. All that money got the technology that makes engineers more important than the driver.
3. There is only 1 American driver and he is on a bad team and isn't very good anyways.
4. The FIA always bashes America.
5. Nobody goes to the races so tourism is nothing. Indy was empty everywhere but parts of the front straight.

Answer 10

F1 is a European sport like soccer and has fans all over the world, like soccer, but America has its own sports like American football and baseball because it is a separate continent. In the same way, a huge country like India has polo and chess as its national treasures (cricket was imported, but chess and polo were their inventions). It is national identity.