Although the Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix is ​​among the five most-watched Grands Prix of all time on the American television network ABC (the channel only broadcasts a few races a year), the general trend of Formula 1 USA is not as positive as before until recently. The Miami race was not sold out this time around and viewership was also lower than last year.

According to the Associated Press (AP), a stagnation (or even a decline) in the popularity of Formula 1 in the United States could be approaching, after the huge increase in interest in the category in the country.

Americans love drama and action. This is why Nascar is so popular in the country. Drivers do not hesitate to crash into each other, even on oval tracks at high speed, sometimes resulting in violent collisions involving several cars, the famous “Big One”. In NASCAR there are ten different winners in sixteen races so far this season, the unpredictability is enormous and it is still the most popular racing category in the United States. In Formula 1, there are only two different winners this year: Max Verstappen (six wins) and Sergio Perez (two wins), both from Red Bull Racing.

Within the world of Formula 1, we admire the work of Red Bull, which has by far the best car, even among the biggest opponents of Max Verstappen and the team. “It’s not a frustration anymore, if it ever was,” said Lewis Hamilton of Canada, for example. “You know how it is, and you know what you’re up against, and I can’t do anything about their performance. It’s likely they’ll win every race this year unless we and Aston Martin can put in a lot. more performance in the cars, or that their car does not finish a race.”

Interest in F1 in the US is still high, but the public may not be very patient with the fact that one team and one driver are the only winners. Even influenced by the Netflix series “Drive to Survive”, the Americans are waiting for a “Nascar 2.0”, and F1 is not able to deliver it. The AP news agency wrote: “Here’s F1’s dirty little secret: racing has never been good and 2021 has been an anomaly of the season.”

Also according to the AP, America’s love of Formula 1 could be very short-lived as the country’s F1 fanbase is fickle and could lose interest if the on-track action doesn’t last. not improve. “F1 excels in drama, ruthless politics and betrayal, but if that doesn’t translate into an exciting product on the track, the attention span will be tested.”

To win back the lost public, the Miami GP, for example, wants to shift its schedule to the start of the night. This should produce beautiful images, give the race an extra dimension and thus attract the public. “But if Verstappen and Red Bull continue to dominate as they are, it won’t help. Not many people want to shell out the money to see a race decided at the first corner of the first lap.

“The F1 paddock understands the flow and knows that the American public may not be so understanding if this one team and one driver dominance continues,” the AP concluded.