{"id":8312,"date":"2023-10-29T23:14:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T23:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=8312"},"modified":"2023-10-29T23:16:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T23:16:44","slug":"rockets-on-wheels-the-rise-of-formula-1-in-us-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2023\/10\/rockets-on-wheels-the-rise-of-formula-1-in-us-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockets on Wheels: The Rise of Formula 1 in US Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI think a lot of people are brought up in an environment with cars and Formula 1, specifically in Europe and Asia, and pretty much every part of the world that isn\u2019t America,\u201d says Abigail Kaufman (Form III), a racing enthusiast here at Fieldston. F1\u2019s popularity in the United States, however, has been quickly growing over the last few years. Why is F1\u2019s popularity increasing?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2018Drive to Survive\u2019 was a pivotal point in motor sports because it\u00a0brought something that was very cultural into the online world and added dramatic effect because of the reality show aspects,\u201d comments Kaufman about the Netflix sensation that has motor racing fanatics glued to their screens each season. One history teacher at Fieldston commented, \u201cAmericans sometimes forget that high speed auto racing was a core element of the American experience and car culture. It was a key cultural promoter of automobile sales in 20th century America that was inventing the industry. To this day everyone knows the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR culture is deeply embedded in the American psyche in the West and South. Grand Prix racing was once highly prized but faded in the 1970s.\u00a0 It\u2019s fascinating to see the revival.\u201d So, now that F1 has gradually become part of the American sports DNA, we Americans are beginning to understand more about its characteristics and appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


This weekend, Austin, Texas will host the second Grand Prix race out of three planned in the United States in 2023. That is the most number of Grand Prix races in one country in the 2023 racing calendar. So what does an F1 novice have to look forward to when watching a race, and understanding the sport in general?  The answer is much more than meets the eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jerry Hairston (Form III) has a pretty good handle on the key components of F1 racing. \u201cThe tires  are very important because they provide the car’s grip on the accelerated  roadway,\u201d explains Hairston. Aside from the rev of the engine, the screeching of the tires as they take hairpin turns on the track are part of the very recognizable soundtrack of a Grand Prix racing event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The racing cars certainly look very sporty, but there is function to that racing form.  The  teams that design the cars come from world famous car makers like Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Honda, and Renault, to name a few.  \u201cThe aerodynamics of the car, like the side pods, front and rear wings, are the key to the speed of the car, by creating drag and downforce which make the cars go so fast. Finally, the engine is the powerhouse of the car,\u201d explains Hairston. Many innovations in the cars we drive today have come from modifications made to F1 cars over the last few decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what do these incredibly sophisticated rockets on wheels need to compete for the attention of fanatics? Drivers, naturally. Those drivers come from all over the world, reinforcing F1 as a global sport. Frederico Podda-Heubach (Form IV) shares that \u201cFormula 1 has a global appeal as drivers and the teams embody the culture of nations. People follow the sport because the teams go around the globe flying the flag of their country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0While some of these drivers have not quite reached household name status like Jordan, Messi or Brady, they do have G.O.A.T status in the hearts of some Fieldston students. Hairston goes old school, referring to\u00a0 Austrian driver\u00a0 from the 1970s and 80s, saying, \u201cNiki Lauda is one of the greatest, surviving a crash and coming back to win 2 championships.\u201d Kaufman considers German racer Sabastian Vettel as her favorite: \u201cWhen I was younger I watched him in Red Bull \u2026 he was brutal and it was insane \u2026 he set some crazy records\u201d. Podda-Heubach favors England\u2019s Lewis Hamilton and Germany\u2019s Michael Schumacher because he declares \u201cThey won seven world titles\u201d. Podda-Heubach also recognizes the brilliant Brazilian racer Ayrton Senna who he says \u201cwas one the most talented drivers whose death improved safety greatly.\u201d On a personal note, the author of this article considers the Dutchman Max Verstappen of Red Bull as the best currently on the grid, and with his recent win in the Austin Grand Prix this last weekend, has secured himself as one of the greats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Verstappen
Max Verstappen (Source: Yahoo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In terms of viewership, the amount of interest in F1 has exploded in the last five years. The Circuit of Americas Grand Prix last year in Austin, Texas shattered the US in-person draw by reaching 440,000 spectators. The Miami Grand Prix earlier this year recorded 2.58 million viewers on its ABC debut, the most the sport has received in any American televised event to date. The Las Vegas Grand Prix, the third and final of the races in the US happening later this year, has brought out predictions that viewership records will be broken again in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing is for sure when it comes to F1 racing in the United States when asking our Fieldston students: the sport is on the way to its own pole position in creating a seriously major fan base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think a lot of people are brought up in an environment with cars and Formula 1, specifically in Europe and Asia, and pretty much every part of the world that isn\u2019t America,\u201d says Abigail Kaufman (Form III), a racing enthusiast here at Fieldston. F1\u2019s popularity in the United States, however, has been quickly growing over the last few years. Why is F1\u2019s popularity increasing?\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Drive to Survive\u2019 was a pivotal point in motor sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":376,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[347,318,317],"tags":[],"coauthors":[586],"class_list":["post-8312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news","category-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Screen-Shot-2023-10-29-at-7.12.57-PM-e1698621203877.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8312"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8316,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8312\/revisions\/8316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8312"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}