Feels like America has accepted Formula One, says Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second but Formula One’s most successful driver said Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix in Austin still felt like a breakthrough for his sport.

The race day crowd of 140,000 at the Circuit of the Americas surpassed the 135,000 who attended the Indianapolis 500 in May, then the largest sporting event in America since the start of the pandemic. The three-day crowd figure for the race in Texas was given as 400,000.

“It feels like this is our acceptance into the U.S.,” Hamilton, a five-times winner in Austin, said as he surveyed the scenes after the race. “I hope we get more races out here and I hope that the sport continues to grow because you can tell just how great the fans are out here.”

There was no race in Austin last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but Formula One will have two U.S. rounds next year, with Miami making its debut.

(Reuters)