page_title: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
section_title: Formula One
hierarchical_section_title: Indianapolis Motor Speedway / Other racing events / Formula One
caption_attribution_description: English: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2000
context_page_description: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, in the United States. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and formerly the home of the United States Grand Prix. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately six miles west of Downtown Indianapolis.
  Constructed in 1909, it is the second purpose-built, banked oval racing circuit after Brooklands and the first to be called a 'speedway'.
  It is the third-oldest permanent automobile race track in the world, behind Brooklands and the Milwaukee Mile. With a permanent seating capacity of 257,325, it is the highest-capacity sports venue in the world.
  Considered relatively flat by American standards, the track is a 2.5-mile-long rectangular oval with dimensions that have remained essentially unchanged since its construction. It has two ⁵⁄₈-mile-long straightaways, four geometrically identical ¹⁄₄-mile turns, connected by two ¹⁄₈-mile short straightaways, termed "short chutes", between turns 1 and 2, and between turns 3 and 4.
context_section_description: In 1998, Tony George arranged for Formula One to return to the United States for the first time since 1991. A two-year renovation and construction project added an infield road course and culminated in the first United States Grand Prix at the facility in 2000. With over 200,000 spectators in attendance, it was one of the largest crowds in the history of Formula One, and considered a huge success. The race was also pivotal to Michael Schumacher's winning of the 2000 World Championship, as he came out on top while Mika Häkkinen's engine blew, resulting in an eight-point lead of the championship that set Schumacher up for only needing one win in the remaining two races, something he achieved at the next event.
  The short history of the event, however, was littered with controversies. The 2002 United States Grand Prix was marred by a bizarre ending, in which Michael Schumacher, having already clinched the championship, seemingly tried to stage a dead heat with teammate Rubens Barrichello. The official timings showed Barrichello ahead by 0.011 seconds at the line, leading fans and media to dub the event a farce. The 2002 race was also the first ever Formula One race to use SAFER barriers. In 2003 Schumacher once more set himself up for the title with an Indianapolis win in a dramatic wet-dry event. The 2005 race turned out to be one of the most controversial races in motorsport history. Michelin realized their tires were ill-equipped for the banking after two heavy crashes for Toyota both for Ralf Schumacher and stand-in Ricardo Zonta, and at the last second, the Michelin teams pulled into the pits at the end of the formation lap, leaving only the three Bridgestone teams (six cars) to contest the race. Fans and media were highly critical of the poor handling of the situation. Many fans walked out, and costly ticket refunds were issued. The 2005 event was not the first tire issue for Michelin as Ralf Schumacher also had heavily crashed, fracturing his back in the 2004 race, while Fernando Alonso also suffered a tire blowout at the end of the start-finish straight in that same event.
  Despite the outrage of the 2005 event, the race returned for two additional years. The race did not enjoy the level success of its earlier runnings, and attendance and interest fell dramatically. The race was left off the calendar for 2008, and efforts to revive the race for 2009 were not successful. In 2012, the U.S. Grand Prix relocated to the Circuit of the Americas.
caption: The 2000 United States Grand Prix was the first event at IMS to be held clockwise.
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