F1 in the US: from Sebring to the Las Vegas Strip

Formula 1’s history in the United States has swung between packed grandstands and races remembered for trouble. A BBC Sport photo gallery traces that story across 11 host locations, from Sebring in 1959 to the modern events in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas.

The opening image shows Jack Brabham pushing his Cooper across the finish line at Sebring after it ran out of fuel on the final lap. Fourth place was enough for the Australian to secure the first of his three world titles.

Several photographs capture the championship’s early years at Watkins Glen, where the US Grand Prix was held from 1961 to 1980. In 1961, Innes Ireland won despite going off the circuit; in 1980, Alan Jones won the race and the world title.

The gallery also revisits the street circuits that gave American grands prix distinctive backdrops. At Long Beach, cars raced along Linden Avenue in 1976, while a photograph from the following year shows James Hunt’s McLaren colliding with John Watson’s Brabham at the start.

Other venues had shorter or more troubled runs. The Caesars Palace races of 1981 and 1982 were held in a car park in Las Vegas, while extreme heat damaged the track during Dallas’s only grand prix, in 1984. In Phoenix, the US Grand Prix was dropped after three races from 1989 to 1991 because of poor attendance, according to the BBC.

Indianapolis brought F1 back to the US in 2000, drawing about 225,000 fans for its first race there. But the 2005 event became a low point: only six cars started after a dispute over tyre safety, and the circuit’s final grand prix was held in 2007.

The sport found a more durable home in Austin, where the Circuit of the Americas hosted its first US Grand Prix in 2012. The BBC says the race has been held there every year since except for the Covid-affected 2020 season, and the venue’s contract runs until 2034.

Miami joined the calendar in 2022, followed by Las Vegas in 2023. The Las Vegas race began with a disrupted practice session after a Ferrari struck a loose manhole cover; it now features a night-time route along the Strip. The BBC says F1 invested $500m in land for a new pit building and paddock, and that the race has a contract through at least 2037.