Formula1 Journal

So for the following year, the USGP was on the move to the Riverside circuit in California, which has hosted pre-championship grand prix. However, as was the case at Sebring ,the race organisers once again barely made a profit, and decided not to continue to fund the event, leaving the USGP off the calendar. But it was to be rescued by a lawyer called Cameron Argetsinger, who was a huge car enthusiast based in New York. He decided to hold the USGP at his own circuit - Watkins Glen in upstate New York, which had already established itself as international road racing circuit.

 

 

Over the next 20 years, ‘The Glen’ – as it became known – became one of the most popular events on the calendar. It’s backdrop of brown-leaved trees, with the race being held in the autumn, made it a great setting for photographers, and it’s layout of challenging corners and ever-changing elevation made it a favourite with drivers. It was also a popular race to the end the season, with the only blemish on the circuit’s record being the unfortunate deaths of Helmut Koinigg and Francoit Cevert.

 

 

However, times became hard for the circuit financially, and after the 1980 grand prix here the race was cancelled due to the huge debt the circuit had built up to the Formula 1 teams. It was a sad end to a great circuit’s time in F1.

 

Over the next 8 years, there was Formula 1 races in America, but no official United States Grand Prix. There was the US Grand Prix West, held at Long Beach from 1976 to 1983, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, held in the car park of the famous casino from 1981 to 1982, the Detroit Grand Prix held between 1982 and 1988, and finally the only other time a grand prix has been held in the state of Texas – the Dallas Grand Prix in 1984. Finally, in 1989, the United States Grand Prix was revived in Phoinex, Arizona, on a temporary street circuit. But this was to prove to be a very unpopular move, and after the 1991 race only attracted a race-day attendance of 18,000 – less than a local ostrich race being held at the same time – Formula 1 said goodbye to America for the first time since the mid-1950’s.

 

Throughout the 1990’s there was no American Grand Prix – the only involvement the US really had in F1 was the continued success of Goodyear as a tyre supplier until 1998, and Michael Andretti’s ill-fated spell with McLaren in 1993. But then in 1999 there came an announcement from Indianapolis Motor Speedway chairman Tony George that his circuit would host an American Grand Prix from the year 2000 onwards, on a specifically-built track featuring some of the legendary banked circuit. And in the early years this race was a huge success, with over 200,000 fans turning up for the inaugural race in 2000, which featured the first-ever wet running at the circuit. The following year’s race was the first international sporting event to be held in the country after the September 11^th attacks, and on an emotional afternoon Mika

Haikkinen took his final F1 win.

 

 

The 2002 race saw Michael Schumacher try to organise a ‘dead-heat’ finish with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Schumacher failed to tell Rubens and the Brazilian beat him by less than a tenth of a second.

 

The 2003 race saw a tense championship battle come to ‘The Brickyard’, and a mixed-weather race saw Michael Schumacher take the initiative going to the final race at Suzuka, and Juan Pablo Montoya’s championship chances finished after a controversial drive-through penalty early in the race.

 

The 2004 race saw a battle royale between the two Ferrari drivers, and a serious injury to Ralf Schumacher after a failure, and then came the infamous 2005 race, when Michelin did not bring tyres that were capable of lasting the full race distance. They blamed the recently-resurfaced track and pressure on the tyre side walls through the banked final turn, but the result was a 6-car grand prix and embarrassment for the sport. Fans threw objects onto the circuit as they left in disgust, and the only man who seemed happy was Tiago Monteiro, who scored his only F1 podium due to the absence of the Michelin teams.

 

 

This would spell the beginning of the end for Indy’s second stint on the F1 calendar, and it was announced just before the 2007 race that the contract would not be renewed, meaning the 2007 race would be the last at the circuit. There were rumours in late 2008 that F1 could return to Indy on the newly-refurbished road course that was built for the MotoGP bikes, but this was later rubbished by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who was quoted as saying that F1 ‘would never return to Indianapolis again’. Bernie did give some hope by saying he would like to run a race near the Hudson River in New York, or Liberty State Park in New Jersey, but nothing ever came of these.

 

 

But then on the 25^th of May 2010 it was announced that the USGP would be revived

on a new purpose-built circuit in Austin, Texas – the first purpose-built full road race circuit to host the American Grand Prix since Watkins Glen in 1980. The promoters of the event have promised that the circuit will be one of the most challenging in the world, and will be modelled on some of the greatest corners in F1. Let’s hope that the USGP has finally found a permanent, long-term home.