Boosting appeal next step
Entertainment high, but Sunday shows sport’s popularity still lags in U.S.
It was more than fitting that pop star for the ages Elton John was the one interviewing Lewis Hamilton on stage after the emotional 30-year-old Brit claimed the U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race for his third world championship.
Hamilton’s a Rocket Man of his own, however grounded to the earth he is in his Team Mercedes car. He certainly blasted off in competitive fashion, practically rubbing teammate Nico Rosberg off the track and enduring twists and turns in the most competitive of the four races at the Circuit of the Americas. It was pretty clear the maneuver rubbed Rosberg the wrong way because when Hamilton playfully tossed a hat in Rosberg’s lap before the podium celebration, the latter angrily threw it back toward the winner.
Asked about it later, a very somber Rosberg said, “That’s just games. Nothing more than that.”
Nothing? Heck, four-time world champ Sebastian Vettel, who came in third, was happier for Hamilton than was the grumpy Rosberg.
That said, the race was highly entertaining. The rollicking nature of Sunday’s race with spin-outs and lead changes and the raw emotions of the winner combined to make the event one of the most aesthetically successful in COTA’s brief history. The track may have clearly embellished the attendance figures of 101,667 for Sunday and 224,011 for the three days, but the event sure didn’t fail to satisfy.
Hamilton called it “a great roller coaster ride.”
There was the usual carnival atmosphere for Formula One with Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders promenading beforehand and racing fans draped in British flags parading afterward. In between was a gripping race under soggy conditions with much more passing than in a Texas football game.
Speaking of which, Hamilton offered no out-of-the-box thinking about how to enhance the appeal of F1 racing in this country and share the pedestal that America football owns.
“I don’t really know, but it would take a lot of brainstorming,” Hamilton said. “New blood, new ideas. The Americans always put on the greatest shows whether it’s music or sports games. The way they put on shows, it’s something we can learn from.”
Hamilton said he’d definitely like to see more races on American soil. “There’s no reason we can’t at least have two,” he said. “It’s such a big place.”
He may get his wish because Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said he’d like to attract three or four races in this country. What he really needs is a popular American driver to galvanize support for a sport that lags far behind other mainstream options. Someone like the animated, smiling, tattooed Hamilton, who pranced around the podium stage like a school kid and tossed the first-place trophy in the air and nearly dropped it.
It could if the new Haas F1 Team that is starting up next season would hand pick an American, but 24-year-old Californian Alexander Rossi — the second American Grand Prix driver since Michael Andretti and a 12th-place finisher Sunday — will not be that driver. Haas has contracted with veteran Frenchman Romain Grosjean as its No. 1 driver, and the whispers are it will sign a Mexican driver for its second car.
Understandably, the Americans recognize their long-range success lies with winning, no matter what the nationalities of their drivers, and F1 won Sunday. With his wide smile and large personality, Hamilton’s a perfect champion. Especially for a sport that has high television ratings but has dipped in attendance, as it did here in the rural countryside southeast of Austin, despite those gaudy figures released.
The weather did F1 no favors. And a race next week in Mexico City may have swayed some to wait for that. Plus, the novelty may have worn off.
But drama, the event had plenty of that.