The 1999 Formula One schedule consists of 17 events in 16 countries around the world, including Europe, South America, Australia, Canada, Japan, and new events in China and Malaysia. Our vision as a company is international leadership in motorsports entertainment, and the U.S. Grand Prix underscores the reality of that vision. I know the Speedway will look after us and see that we have a home for Formula One for years to come, and we will bring the glamour and excitement to the Speedway that it is traditional for. With a permanent facility, you eliminate all the overhead and hassles you have every year converting a street course, such as Detroit, for racing. Fans, all 200,000 of them, can actually see the cars.
Teams can actually test, within the rules of the series.
Heck, the testing alone would be worth watching, if they'd let you. The new road course will use the main straight and Turn One of the oval, then part of the short chute between One and Two. Then the cars will dive down to new pavement inside Turns Two and Four, connected by a route south on Hulman Boulevard. It has survived with only a few tweaks. Forbes calculated through computer imaging that an F1 car can circle the circuit in 73 seconds, a speed average of 127 mph.