F1’s previously piecemeal approach to America is reflected in the fact that the United States Grand Prix has been held over 50 times but at 10 different locations.
The Indianapolis 500 used to count for F1 points in the 1950s; the first US GPs were held at Sebring and Riverside before settling in Watkins Glen for a couple of decades. After a brief comeback at Phoenix, and a couple of years on the Indy road course (with a record raceday crowd in Year 1 before spectacularly self-destructing), Austin’s Circuit of the Americas finally gave it a solid foothold again.
And while other events took place at Long Beach, Detroit, Dallas, Las Vegas and Miami – taking the total of F1 races run in America to 75 – it was the arrival of mass-media giant Liberty as its owner in 2017 that has been the gamechanger that saw a concentrated, joined-up push towards multiple F1 events each season, with Vegas about to join the roster this weekend.
Source: Autosport