Quote:
Originally Posted by Marbot
I was wondering what the effect of not having a US driver or a US team might have on the US GP?
Do the fans mostly go to see Ferrari/Alonso or whoever? Or is it just that they love F1? Or is it just a good day out? Or something else?
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My opinion is that in general the inclusion of a US driver is not going to make much difference. That the vast majority of those who would attend are going to be long standing F1 fans with the next largest groups (at least for the first race) being curious locals and general racing fans who are curious regardless of who is driving.
I think the only "US driver" thing that might really alter attendance numbers would be if an existing US superstar driver (NASCAR) was to move to F1, then the curiosity factor could jump up another notch and cause a number of get off the fence and attend an F1 race. An American team and/or manufacture involvement might help more. But there is little chance of that happening.
Richard