United States Grand Prix Circuits
This entry will go into some detail about the circuits in the US that have hosted Formula One World Championship Grands Prix.
Circuits of the United States Grand Prix
The first Formula One United States Grand Prix was held at the 5.2 mile Sebring International Raceway in 1959. That race featured the reighing Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward in his Kurtis-Offy Midget car. The race went 42 laps, completed in 2 hours and 12 minutes, won by Bruce McLaren in his Cooper-Climax (Ward retired from the race after 20 laps due to a broken clutch). American Harry Schell had performed a naughty deed during qualifying by secretly short-cutting the circuit and gaining six seconds! Seven Americans were in the race, with only one finishing: Harry Clanchard finishing in 7th place, last of the drivers that finished. Fastest lap was 3:05.0 on lap 39, three laps from the end of the race, pole time was 3:00.0 by Sir Stirling Moss. Unfortunately, the race wasn’t financally fesable, as Alec Ullman just broke even on the event, not to mention that the fans at the US GP was smaller than the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Ullman tried it again in 1960, this time at Riverside International Raceway on the 3.275 mile road course. This race didn’t feature the Ferraris of Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, but the two drivers were allowed to participate with other teams (a Cooper-Climax for Hill, and a Cooper-Maserati for von Trips). Sir Moss won the pole with a time of 1:54.4 in his Lotus-Climax, eventually winning from that position. Hometown hero Dan Gurney started the race from P3 in the BRM, but only completed 18 laps due to a blown core plug. During the race, Jack Brabham’s car would periodically ignite excess fuel being spilled from the car (last year he lost the US GP because of not having enough fuel in the car to finish). Like Sebring before, the crowds were small compared to other events there, and the race wasn’t a financial success, but he paid everyone involved in the race in full, even if it took him several months to get it done.
1961 saw the US GP move again, this time to Watkins Glen International in New York. This time the US GP found a supportive crowd on the 2.35 mile circuit. The winners of the US GP on this circuit layout are: Innes Ireland, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi. In 1971, the circuit was redone, adding the “boot” section and increasing its length to 3.377 miles. Winners on this circuit were: Francois Cevert, Jackie Stewart, Ronnie Peterson, and Carlos Reutemann. Unfortunately, Cevert and Helmut Koinigg were killed on the circuits in similar manners: crashing into the guardrail, the bottom portion of the railing giving but not the top, decapitating them. In 1975, a chicane was added to the Esses to slow the cars down, where Cevert died in 1973. However, the US GP only lasted five more years; from 1981 to 1988, there were no US GPs on the Formula One schedule, though there were other Grands Prix held in the US under different titles.
In 1989, the US GP returned to the F1 calendar, this time on a street circuit in Phoenix, Arizona. The race was run only once on this circuit configuration before it was modified to this layout. Unfortunately, only 18,500 spectators attended the 1991 race, with rumors of an ostrich race having more spectators than a World Championship race spelled the end of the US GP until 2000.
From 2000 to 2007, the United States Grand Prix was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the famous (or infamous, depending on your views) infield road course. Due to disagreements between Bernie Eccelstone and Tony George, F1 racing has vacated the US after 2007. Hopefully the Austin circuit will be completed in time for the 2012 United States Grand Prix.
United States Grand Prix West
The 1976 to 1981 Long Beach Circuit was held on the streets of Long Beach, California. It featured the long, curving Shoreline Drive between two hairpins. It had 13 turns with the finish line on Ocean Boulevard. The winners on this circuit were Clay Regazzoni (1976), Mario Andretti (1977), Carlos Reutemann (1978), Gilles Villeneuve (1979), and Alan Jones (1980).
In 1982, the circuit was modified, removing the second hairpin (the “Queen’s Hairpin”), replacing it with the familiar right-left-right onto Cedar Avenue, then on Seaside Way, then onto Ocean Boulevard. The eastern portion of the circuit was also modified, with a hairpin right at the end of Seaside Way to the “Indy “Left”, with a chicane added onto Shoreline Boulevard. Niki Lauda won on this circuit.
The final US GP West race was 1983, with the circuit revised again, this time avoiding Ocean Boulevard. There was a series of turns on Seaside Way that I can’t figure out the reason for, but otherwise the rest of the circuit was unchanged. The winner was John Watson.
Circuit lengths for the three layouts are: 2.02 miles (1976-1981), 2.13 miles (1982), and 2.04 miles (1983).
Indianapolis 500 Mile
From 1950 to 1960, the Indianapolis 500 Mile race was part of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was held on the 2.5 mile paved oval and ran to a distance of 200 laps, 500 miles. During those ten years, there were few entries from F1 teams and drivers, the most notable being Alberto Ascari in 1952.
Detroit Grand Prix
From 1982 to 1988, Formula One raced in Detroit, MI.
The 1982 circuit was run on the city streets, winding its way through downtown Detroit, using the streets around the Renaissance Center and Hart Plaza. This circuit was 2.59 mile long. John Watson won from 17th place on the grid.
The circuit was revised in 1983, removing the hairpin on Jefferson Avenue, but otherwise remained the same as the previous year. The Grand Prix continued on this circuit until 1988. Winners on this circuit were Michele Alboreto, Nelson Piquet, Keke Rosberg and Ayrton Senna, who won it thre consecutive times.
Dallas Grand Prix
The 1984 Dallas Grand Prix was the only time Dallas held a Grand Prix. Using the streets around Fair Park, the event was plagued by high heat and the surface breaking up in the turns. The most memoriable moment of the race was Nigel Mansell collapsing trying to push his disabled car to the finish line. Only 8 cars were classified at the end of ther race, with everyone else either spinning off or succumbing to failures, where the Tyrrell team disqualified for the season due to technical infringement earlier in the season. This race was one of the hottest in F1 history, with an air temperature of 104F (40C).
Caesars Palace Grand Prix
This was perhaps the most unusual circuits used for F1 races, as it was set up in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace casino. The circuit was as smooth as glass, wide enough for passing and had plenty of sand-filled runoff areas. However, it was an anti-clockwise, which put a big strain on the driver’s necks, with Nelson Piquet needing 15 minutes to rest after clinching the 1981 World Championship. The race was ran in 1982, but each race only drew small crowds and was dropped afterwards, with Michele Alboreto winning the final F1 race on the temporary circuit.
Again, questions/comment/complaints/observations are welcomed. Not sure which F1 Grand Prix I should do next. Maybe France and all of their Grand Prix circuits (both during the F1 era and pre-F1).