Lewis Hamilton says it is “amazing” to see Formula 1 has “cracked” America as interest spikes in the country.
Last year’s return to Austin drew the biggest crowd ever seen at a Grand Prix with an estimated 400,000 fans in attendance, a number that was later surpassed at this year’s Australian Grand Prix.
Even so, F1 is looking to build on that rapid US growth with the first of two races across the pond in 2022 at the inaugural Miami GP this weekend.
WE. ARE. HYPED! ??#MiamiGP #F1 @f1miami pic.twitter.com/wtCmmUewJS
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2022
And ahead of the event, Hamilton spoke about the sport’s rise.
“The first race I had out here was Indianapolis in 2007,” the seven-time world champion told ABC’s Good Morning America.
“But now, with the Netflix series Drive To Survive growing, we have two Grands Prix in the States, and then we have another one in Las Vegas next year. It’s going to be huge.
“Everyone knew NASCAR and, obviously, you’ve got such huge sports fans out here.
“But, as I said, the Netflix show, particularly through the pandemic, has just brought massive awareness to the sport, and now it’s booming.”
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Historically, America has been the toughest market for F1 to conquer but Hamilton believes it is now well on the way to doing so.
“Growing up knowing how amazing the sport is and seeing that there was still quite a disconnect between the US and the rest of the world in terms of the passion for this sport, it’s really amazing to see that we’ve cracked it,” said the Mercedes driver.
“There’s a growing love in the States. There are massive sporting fans out there.
“And I mean, Miami is going to be an experience for all of us, for the racing community, for those that are the fans out there that are watching, the fans that are going to be flying in that maybe have never been there before.
“The US has a lot to offer in that space. So it’s super exciting.”