GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Dare on June 18, 2007, 02:26:31 PM
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Williams driver Alex Wurz believes Formula One needs to race more often in the United States if it is to win over the American public.
F1 supreme Bernie Ecclestone has held talks this weekend ahead of the US Grand Prix about entering into a long-term agreement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to keep the race at the famous circuit.
The deal that brought the US Grand Prix back to the F1 calendar in 2000 expired in 2006 with just a one-year extension agreed up to the end of Sunday's race.
Austrian driver Wurz believes the sport needs to better promoted in America.
"In Europe we're huge and we've had strong growth in Asia over the last few years, almost the last decade," he said.
"We're in Australia also and South America, which was always popular because we have Brazilian drivers and Argentines.
"But the States is really not well enough promoted. And it's very hard to compete against NASCAR, and against other sports.
"The media is strong here and the public follows the media output so hard. You almost need to be just an American series to be guaranteed to be followed as a sport.
"So it's not an easy market to be honest."
While Formula One Management CEO Ecclestone and his opposite number at IMS, Tony George, try to thrash out a deal for one US race, Wurz called for a giant leap forward in the sport's approach to the American market.
"Look at soccer, it's a global sport and it's getting more and more popular in the States, slowly.
"I think we would need to come to two or three locations but at the moment I think the promoters - Bernie's finding quite a good market in Asia."
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The biggest problem we have over here is Bernie's mouth. I can't tell you how many times someone out on the street would come up to me, see I was had on a race shirt of hat and go off on a "Who does that crazy old man think he is?" rant.
What could be the best thing for F1 in the US? Two words: Marco Andretti.