Best images of Formula 1 in the United States through the years
Formula 1 heads to the United States this weekend for the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, where the race has been a fixture since its first running in 2012. The event in Austin is one of three Formula 1 races held in the United States, alongside the Miami Grand Prix in May and the Las Vegas night race in November.
The sport’s profile in the United States has risen in recent years, helped by Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, but F1’s relationship with the country has been mixed: some meetings produced enduring memories while others were problematic. Over the decades 11 U.S. cities and towns have hosted Grands Prix, from Sebring and Riverside to Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Indianapolis, Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas. This gallery revisits notable photographs and scenes from those venues and moments in American F1 history.
The first Formula 1 United States Grand Prix was held at Sebring, Florida, in 1959, where Jack Brabham won his first of three drivers’ championships by pushing his Cooper over the finish after it ran out of fuel on the last lap; his fourth place was sufficient to beat Tony Brook and Stirling Moss to the title. The 1960 US Grand Prix at Riverside featured John Surtees driving his Lotus through California streets on the way to the circuit but retiring after spinning off on the third lap, while Brabham’s fourth place secured his second championship ahead of Bruce McLaren.
Watkins Glen’s debut in 1961 saw Innes Ireland’s Lotus retrieved from the bushes after an off but the Briton recovered to win; the circuit hosted the US Grand Prix until 1980. Jim Clark is pictured on the grid at Watkins Glen in 1965, the year he won his second drivers’ championship, and celebrated victory there in 1967; he was killed six months later in a Formula 2 race. In 1973 an early morning church service was held in the Watkins Glen pits following the death of Tyrrell driver Francois Cevert during qualifying.
Long Beach hosted the inaugural United States Grand Prix West in 1976, with the field running down Linden Avenue led by Ferrari’s Niki Lauda. Emerson Fittipaldi surprised the paddock in 1976 by leaving McLaren for his brother’s Fittipaldi team; a practice crash in Long Beach damaged his car but he still scored the final point for sixth place in the race. The 1977 Long Beach start saw James Hunt’s McLaren tipped into the air after colliding with John Watson’s Brabham, and the venue later switched to promoting IndyCars from 1984.
Caesars Palace staged the 1981 and 1982 Grands Prix in Las Vegas around a car park and hosted the championship climaxes in both years, but drivers did not favour the featureless anti-clockwise layout run in the heat of the day. The Dallas Grand Prix was held once, in July 1984, when extreme heat contributed to the track breaking up and 18 of the 26 drivers retiring—14 of them after hitting the wall; Keke Rosberg won with Rene Arnoux second and Elio de Angelis third, and actress Linda Gray joined the podium. The Detroit street race ran from 1982-88, where Ayrton Senna won from pole in 1986, and the Phoenix events in 1989-91 included a memorable 1990 race in which Senna overtook Jean Alesi twice for the win before the race later dropped off the calendar due to poor attendances.
Formula 1 returned to the United States in 2000 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with about 225,000 fans attending the first race on a 2.6-mile layout that combined a new road course and the banked oval; Michael Schumacher won that event to take control of that year’s drivers’ championship. The 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis collapsed into farce when only six cars started after a safety dispute focused on teams running Michelin tyres; 14 drivers pulled into the pit lane before the start, prompting boos and bottles from departing spectators. Nick Heidfeld was unhurt when his BMW Sauber barrel-rolled in 2006 following a collision involving Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button; the final Indianapolis US Grand Prix was held in 2007.
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin first hosted the US Grand Prix in 2012, a race won by Lewis Hamilton for McLaren, and the venue has staged the event every year since apart from the Covid-affected 2020 season. Hamilton secured the 2015 and 2019 world titles at the Circuit of the Americas. The Miami International Autodrome, which runs around Hard Rock Stadium, has hosted the Miami Grand Prix since 2022, and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli—winner of this year’s Miami race in May—was pictured getting a lift from Miami Dolphins players Ollie Gordon II, Josh Uche, Jordan Phillips and Ethan Robinson. The Las Vegas Grand Prix joined the calendar in 2023; its opening practice session was halted after nine minutes when Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari struck a loose manhole cover, badly damaging his car, and the second session later started two and a half hours late in front of almost empty stands after fan areas closed because it was the early hours of the morning. Images from Las Vegas include Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton passing the illuminated Sphere in 2025 and scenes of the Strip run as a night circuit; F1 invested $500m to buy a plot on which it constructed a new pit building and paddock.
Circuit of the Americas has a contract to stage the US Grand Prix until 2034, and Las Vegas holds a long-term agreement to host Formula 1 until at least 2037, with this year’s Las Vegas race scheduled for November.