I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and if you listened to the show this morning (August 3, 2019), you heard a bit of what has gone right with F1 in the States to this point.
But, let’s refresh your memory, or fill you in if you missed the show.
Formula 1 is on the most available cable sports network out there, the ESPN family, with their parent network, ABC, willing to air three of those races, something NBC didn’t do when they had the rights to Formula 1 the past few years, leaving all of them on the NBC Sports Network.
So, that’s a good plus, on top of two other factors. Prior to the move to ESPN/ABC, the first American-owned team came into the series, 2016 was their first season actually running, and, up until this season, had actually improved their points scoring each season.
Just before that Formula 1 got a proper Formula 1 race course, Circuit of the Americas, near Austin, Texas. Before that they had to race on a not quite ready for prime-time Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the middle of the famed rectangle, and prior to that trying street courses in places like Detroit, and for a while a nice run at Long Beach, pioneering the course IndyCar runs on now, and they even ran at Watkins Glen for a few years.
So, Formula 1 has almost everything they need to gain a sincere foothold in the US, a proper F1 course, an American-based F1 team and a proper television outlet for fans in the United States to see the races.
What’s missing you ask? An American-born driver to root for. For the record, there are some American-born drivers that are attempting to climb the ladder through the Formula 1 feeder series ladder, but none of them are quite ready yet.
Since Haas F1 is having a down year, and looks to be in need of a sincere change at a lot of levels, now might be the time to bring on a American driver.
So, who to go after you ask? Well, Alexander Rossi would have been an obvious choice, but he just re-upped with Andretti Autosport, so that’s out.
Josef Newgarden would be my next choice. The Tennessee-born driver already has one IndyCar title under his belt, and as of this posting, is in prime position to gain title number 2, with Alexander Rossi the main hot on his heels at the top of the standings.
Newgarden currently drives for Team Penske, and I’m sure “The Captain” doesn’t want to see a driver who is a major title contender walk away, but, Formula 1 is something that Newgarden has said does interest him. As for his contract status, when he signed on with Team Penske, the terms of the deal were not released, so it is not truly known how much longer he has left.
But, if Haas F1 wants to make a splash in the United States, I would be calling Newgarden’s agent and finding out as much information about that contract as I could. If you saw the fan turnout at Circuit of the Americas in 2018, or watched the Netflix “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series, you saw that there is a big Haas F1 fan-base that turns out at COTA each year, and they would love to root for an American driver, on the American team, at the American track.
That’s the splash Formula 1 needs, and Haas F1 should want, and should go for.