United States Grand Prix

Watkins Glen layout used in 1993

The **United States Grand Prix** is a race that is currently on the F1 calendar.

## History

### Indianapolis 500

In 1950, the FIA decided that for their fledgling World Championship, there needed to be at least one race outside of Europe. So for the first eleven years of the series, full points were awarded to the oldest and largest race outside of Europe, the Indianapolis 500. Very little mention was made of most of the drivers competing at Indianapolis had never heard of the FIA series, and that nothing about the 500 conformed to the rules of the rest of the Championship.

Only two drivers attempted to "cross over": Alberto Ascari qualified at Indianapolis once, in 1952. He started 19th (out of 33), but broke a wheel and spun out, so was listed as finishing 31st. And Rodger Ward brought his Indy roadster to the 1959 United States Grand Prix, where he thought that the car would be more nimble than the F1 cars. He was dramatically proven wrong, qualifying last in a field of 19, more than 43 seconds behind polesitter Stirling Moss. After running at the back of the field, the car's clutch broke around half distance.

After a genuine United States Grand Prix began running in 1959, and survived a bumpy start, the 500 was quietly dropped from the 1961 and subsequent calendars.

### Modern Era

The actual United States Grand Prix started out in 1958 as a sports car race at Riverside, as single-seater road racing cars were in short supply in the US. After the organizers proved that they were capable of running an event, then an actual Grand Prix was scheduled for 1959. But to reduce travel expenses, the race was moved 3,000 miles east, to Sebring, Florida. But Sebring proved to be too far from any major metropolitan areas, and the event lost money.

In 1960, the second try was back in Riverside, where a huge crowd had turned out for the sports car race two years earlier. But this time, the race was just a week after another heavily-promoted sports car race, and the major newspaper of the Los Angeles area barely mentioned the Grand Prix. The meagre crowd placed the organizers in a hole financially.

The third try was the charm. Watkins Glen, New York might be tiny in and of itself, but within a day's drive there were more than 30 million people. The city had held very successful races though the town streets and on surrounding roads just after the war, and the need to move the racing to a permanent circuit did not diminish the popularity of the racing. The third Formula One incarnation of the event, now titled the Grand Prix of the United States, drew a large and enthusiastic throng. Formula One had found a home in the US.

The race was held at Watkins Glen 20 times, and after the 1970 race, the track received a major makeover and expansion. At the time the track was hailed as the finest road racing circuit in the world, but time and diminishing crowds started to wear the track out. Consecutive years with poor weather and attendance, in 1979 and 1980 put the track in financial jeopardy, and when the organizers defaulted on the prize money after the 1980 race, the track was dropped from the calendar.

## Other Grands Prix in the United States

The United States Grand Prix is the longest-running Formula One World Championship event held in the United States. Previously, however, there were four other separate F1 events there.

From 1976 until 1983, the Long Beach circuit hosted a newly created United States Grand Prix, which ran in the same seasons as the *United States Grand Prix (East)*. The United States was thus the first nation since Italy in 1957 to hold two Formula One Grands Prix in the same season. During the years 1976–1980 when both Grands Prix ran, the *United States Grand Prix* was also referred to as the *United States Grand Prix East*. The Caesars Palace Grand Prix ran as a Formula One World Championship race in Las Vegas in 1981 and 1982 (after which it continued two further years as an event in the CART series). 1982 saw the inaugural Detroit Grand Prix in the center of Detroit, Michigan, which ran until 1988. The 1982 Formula One season thus featured three Grands Prix in the United States—the first time in World Championship history that a country hosted more than two Grands Prix. Finally, a one-off Dallas Grand Prix in Fair Park, Texas, was held in 1984; it was plagued by problems with the track surface, exacerbated by extremely hot 104 °F (40 °C) July weather. In 1988, the Detroit Grand Prix gained the historic United States Grand Prix moniker for what would be its final race.

A potential new Grand Prix in the New York City area was announced for the 1983 season, to be held either at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows, or Mitchel Field in Hempstead, Long Island (on the same site as the 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cups). However, the race was first postponed and then cancelled, as CART started their own race at the Meadowlands, and titled it the "United States Grand Prix".

## Official Names

 1960
 1962
 1977–1980

## Venues

Sebring (1959)Riverside (1960)Watkins Glen (1961–1970)Watkins Glen (1971–1974, 1991)Watkins Glen (with Esses chicane) (1975–1980)Detroit (1988)Phoenix (1989)Road America (1990)
## Winners

From 1908 to 1916, the race was named the *American Grand Prize*. Six American drivers have won the United States Grand Prix, all except one when it was known as the American Grand Prize, which was not part of the Grand Prix calendar. Chuck Daigh also won it as a non-championship race at Riverside in 1958. But while the event has been part of the Formula One World Championship, no American has won the event; however, Mario Andretti won the 1977 United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California.

### Repeat winners (drivers)

*Drivers in bold are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season. A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.*

  Jim Clark
 2
  James Hunt
  Carlos Reutemann

### Repeat winners (constructors)

*Teams **in bold** are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.*

*A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.*

 6
 2

### Repeat winners (engine manufacturers)

*Manufacturers **in bold** are competing in the Formula One championship in the current season.*

*A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.*

 3
  BRM
 2

### By year

*A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.*

## Notes

1. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Schot, Marcel (September 20, 2000). "The 1984 United States GP {{sic}}". *AtlasF1*. A Race to Remember. Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. **6** (38). Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"New York May Get '83 Auto Grand Prix". *The New York Times*. October 28, 1982. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
3. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"New York Grand Prix scheduled". *Reading Eagle*. UPI. October 28, 1982. pp. 41, 47. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
4. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"No auto racing in New York". *Boca Raton News*. June 3, 1983. p. 2D. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
5. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Harris, Mike (June 29, 1984). "U.S. Grand Prix success is vital to CART future". *Daily News*. Bowling Green, Kentucky. AP. p. 1–B. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
6. ↑ Built by Cosworth, funded by Ford.