New RACER magazine celebrates America’s Formula 1 past, present and future

Back when Formula 1 exited Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the eighth and last time in 2007, the USA’s on-off relationship with grand prix racing appeared to have reached a nadir from which there’d be no going back. America didn’t need F1; F1, it seemed, didn’t need America.

But after four F1-free years, the visionaries (although, at the time, we might have used “dreamers” or “reckless optimists”) behind Austin’s Circuit of The Americas brought motorsports’ apex series back to these shores in 2012.

Some 13 years later, via the unflinching faith of the COTA hierarchy, the “Drive to Survive” effect, the sport’s reboot as a commercial powerhouse by Liberty Media, an influx of U.S. sponsors and partners, and the addition of two more high-profile races in Miami and Las Vegas, F1 has never enjoyed a higher profile in the world’s largest economy. And the consensus is that we’re nowhere near the ceiling when it comes to audience growth and engagement within America.

As F1 gets set for COTA’s United States Grand Prix on Oct. 19 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 22 (with Mexico City and Sao Paulo continuing the “Swing of the Americas” in between), RACER No. 336, The F1 x USA Issue, explores its American past, present and future.

We look back on an elite group of five American drivers who’ve won grands prix and, in the case of Phil Hill and Mario Andretti, F1 world championships, plus we recall all 12 venues to have hosted grands prix, some with more longevity than others.

We also compare the distinct character and challenges of each of the three current venues, Miami, COTA and Las Vegas, and look ahead to the prospects for the Cadillac F1 team as it prepares for its 2026 debut season.

Plus, as IndyCar ace Colton Herta embarks on a possible path to grand prix racing, we sit down with another American prospect, Jak Crawford. Could either make it to a full-time F1 seat? With so much Stateside momentum and energy in the sport, it’s a very real possibility.

Elsewhere in a packed and wide-ranging issue, we introduce the Blackbird 66 Mk.1, a car that Indy 500 regular and deep thinker JR Hildebrand believes can bring raw, visceral spectacle back to top-level open-wheel racing.

And after an NTT IndyCar Series season dominated by the now-four-time champ Alex Palou, including victory in the Indianapolis 500, we talk to some key players from his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team to find out what makes the Spaniard such a force of nature.

In sports car racing, we recall the long and successful career of the Lexus RC F GT3, a car that’s been in the thick of the action in IMSA’s ultra-close GT3-based classes for a decade.

Heading to the NASCAR Cup Series, we sit down with recent convert Shane van Gisbergen to get a read on how the Kiwi is reinventing road racing in stock car racing’s top tier and what his learning curve is to master the ovals, too.

With features on MotoGP’s Ducati hunter, Marco Bezzecchi, NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon’s Best/Worst list, a look back with 2009 F1 champ Jenson Button on a stellar career that – full-time at least – he’s calling time on, plus much more in a bumper 140-page package, we think you’ll enjoy RACER No. 336 as much as we enjoyed making it.

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