Why is there no North Americans drivers in Formula 1?

Question

Is it because of Nascar?

Answer 1

Scott Speed actually raced in formula one for half of the season this year for toro rosso and he is from california. I think there is alot of apprehension on teams to allow an american driver into a strict european sport. Every now and then a drive comes along from asia or canada but the majority drivers are european and i think they want to keep it that way. The IRL fell victim to the european invasion in the late 90s and im sure F1 will not allow an american invasion of their sport. I would have loved to see Scott in a Ferrari or a Mclaren because i think he could have been competitive but he was in a car that didnt preform and he now will try his hand in NASCAR. I wish him all the best.

Answer 2

Actually there was. Remember the Andrettis? More recently there was Scott Speed who has unfortunately now left the sport. But it's most likely that North Americans are more exposed to NASCAR than they are to F1. Naturally, they want to join NASCAR and don't think about F1. Only a few drivers who have actually seen F1 may decide to abandon NASCAR and go for F1 instead. Then there's also the fact that managers may not have tapped into the talent field in AMerica.

Answer 3

I would hope it isn't because of NASCAR. NASCAR is boring, stomp on the gas and turn left. The only time the race is interesting is when they run on a road course and most of them don't know how to drive. That is one reason I like formula 1, probably one of the few Americans that do. Formula 1 has talented drivers, speed up, slow down, shift, right turn, left turn. Bet that formula 1 drivers have a better cultural reputation than NASCAR drivers and their fans.

Answer 4

It is European based because America has Nascar. Americans have always been against supporting foreign cars. The whole Toyota joining Nascar deal brought up a lot of controversy and Nascar probably lost quite a few fans over it but gained a few more in the process.

Answer 5

I don't know about the rest of North America but the best racers in the USA run in NASCAR because of the challenge, the fun and actual racing is involved.

Villeneuve said it best!

"You have a goal and do everything you can to reach that goal," Villeneuve said. "Once you reach it, you start opening your eyes to other things. You realize there are other things than Formula One in life and there is better racing out there. You want to find the best racing possible.


Too those who may believe he may be saying the best racing outside of F1, read on.

"If you have a goal and achieve it (the World Championship) it becomes much easier to look for the best racing. Do you want to just parade around or do you want to have fun with the other drivers and race hard all the time? That's what NASCAR is all about."

Or how about this comment from Montoya?

``People don't understand what a big challenge this style of racing is,'' Montoya said. ``Michael Schumacher, just take him to Homestead (Fla.) and tell him to stay half a second off the pace. He would have a heart attack.''

Open-wheelers have been trying their hand at NASCAR for about 50 years now. The list of F1 drivers who have run NASCAR races is much longer than one would think. The only thing new is now they are wanting to run full-time.

By the way, one of the past F1 champs to give it a try was Jimmy Clark. He ran one race at the 1.017-mile paved track known as "The Rock" near Rockingham, NC, USA in the 48th race of the year on October 29, 1967 before 53,378 fans. He was in Holman-Moody Ford # 66. His engine expired 144 laps into the 500 lap race, finished 30th and collected a whopping $665.00 from the purse.

His engine wasn't the only one lost that day. Forty-four cars started, 14 blew up, 9 crashed and 9 others had various mechanical failures. "The Rock" was a tough little track.

Although Clark's Holman-Moody Ford failed, the team's other two cars did well. Bobby Allison beat David Pearson, but it wasn't a typical Rockingham finish. David was a lap down in 2nd Place.

Clark left and never returned to NASCAR. Some speculate it was the money. Some reasoned he just found it too freaking hard!

He should have picked an easier oval as only the best in NASCAR found that one fun.

The last race was held at "The Rock" February 22, 2004. The final 15 laps were as good as it gets. Kahne twice looked to the outside of Kenseth, with Kenseth's car all but broadsliding through the turns. McMurray, meanwhile, twice looked to the inside of Kahne but was not able to get into position.

Off the last turn, Kenseth's car slipped high, and Kahne charged inside, shooting for the whole prize. He and Kenseth came to the line side-by-side, with scoring showing the margin to be 0.010sec, fourth-closest since electronic scoring became the standard 14 years ago.

"I thought we were OK for a short run, but we weren't," Kenseth said. "We were too loose (oversteer), and I almost gave the race away because we didn't adjust on the car the way we should have. It would have been really hard for me to face my crew that had those perfect pit stops and kept me in front all day ( led 259 of 393 ) if I would have lost that thing in the last hundred yards."





There's no need for a USA born racer to have the desire to race against "the best" racers in F1 all over the world. They come to us. The ones who never want to try are perceived as mere drivers.


I like F1 by the way and for the same reasons most of you do. Just not as much as most of you. It's been a pretty interesting year, with different winners and I got to tell you, the soap opera has been excellent.




Hey, I'm not the one who called F1 a parade, that would be a former champ.

Answer 6

Didn't you see Formula One this year and earlier this season? Scott Speed was racing for Scuderia Toro Rosso but due to his poor performances he was replaced by the young and promising German Sebastian Vette He now races in stock cars in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He is American by the way, Californian to be more specific.

Jacques Villeneuve, a Québécois, raced in Formula One from 1996-2006. He won the Championship in only his second season of F1 just beating out Schumacher for the title. Unfortunately, he later joined BAR and became a midfield driver from there on and retired from Formula One after the 2006 season and has followed in the footsteps of Montoya and is now racing in NASCAR.

Answer 7

We've had a few back in the day, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti they had great success in f1.. Peter Revson was doing fairly well until he got killed in South Africa, then Danny Sullivan gave it a shot, then went to Cart, Michael Andretti, did nothing, Eddie Cheever is an american but being always number 2 driver on teams, he never won a race..Scott Speed, well with crappy equipment, he got fired now he plans on running ARCA next yr to move up to Nascar in 09.. Giles Villeneuve from Canada ran great in F1 until he was killed way before his time..but his son Jacques Villeneuve did win the World Championship in 97, but he is going to Nascar in 08, running a limited truck circuit now in Nascar.....For some reason F1 has lost its luster over here.. Until we get a real great driver out there and some races over here, its going to be hard..I have heard Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal say they want a shot at F1...well boys you better get hot before you get to old....

Answer 8

Probably. Two F1 drivers just signed up with NASCAR, according to this month's issue of Road & Track.

NASCAR is a good income and no where near as easy as it looks. And the endorsement income potential is huge. Not to mention, less international travel and a lot more races. F1 also tends to be very formal, while NASCAR is a more relaxed, good ol' boy atmosphere.

Answer 9

You get a thousand young drivers from all over the world that can only fill one or two spaces in F1. The North American drivers are simply not good enough. A lot of the young racers have famous F1 dad's, so its still is a culture of who you know.

Answer 10

There was one- Scott Speed. He raced for Toro Rosso. I guess it's because NASCAR gets more coverage there and people there are more interested in NASCAR.