Formula 1 chiefs are in no rush to add more US races to the calendar with the focus on growing their new Grands Prix in Miami and Las Vegas.
F1 has made no secret of its desire to explore its options for potential new venues. And the US is home to two of the most recent additions, joining the now more established United States Grand Prix, which has been running at Austin's Circuit of the Americas for more than a decade.
But, even though the US is still very much seen as a growing market, no further races are expected for the country in the coming years. Three per year in America, combined with the Grands Prix in Canada, Mexico and Brazil, are seen as the perfect amount – a total of six in those time zones, making up a quarter of the annual calendar.
The total figure is set to be 24 going forward – but there is one fewer this year after the Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled. While F1 chief Stefano Domenicali has spoken about the possibility of 30 races per year in the past, he was referring to the potential based on interest rather than a number that he actually considers to be feasible.
The desire remains to expand, but other markets are higher on the agenda than another US race. A return to Africa remains a priority for Domenicali who is bullish about making F1 a truly global sport, while Asia is another area of focus. Adding further new venues will most likely mean the rotation of established European venues will be necessary.
Nevertheless, the US market is still something F1 wants to continue working on. The COTA race needs less attention these days as a fans' favourite and an established venue on the calendar, but work still needs to be done both in Florida and Nevada.
Gloomy forecasts have been made about this year's Miami Grand Prix, amid claims that the Vegas race has taken the gloss away from it and that fans are waiting to spend their money at that new race later this year. But capacity in Miami has increased by 30,000 this year, and the reality is that attendance is expected to rise across the weekend compared to the 240,000 people through the gates at the 2022 race.
Meanwhile, the Vegas race itself is set to replace the Monaco Grand Prix as the new showpiece event of the F1 calendar. The event is being promoted by Liberty Media rather than bringing in a third party like at other events and so there is a financial incentive for F1 chiefs to make sure it is a success.
Speaking to Mirror Sport, Guenther Steiner – team principal of American team Haas – spoke of the need for stability in the US market given the sport's recent and unprecedented growth. "You have to build the base line and that's what is happening," said Steiner, who holds US citizenship and lives in North Carolina.
"Stabilising the sport where it is right now would be fantastic. But everyone knows that. We've had a period of growth now and after a period like that you sometimes have to stop, take stock and then build up again, not just keep on going.
"The biggest risk is that you reach a cliff that you then fall down because to recover then is very difficult. But the sport is in a very good place not to do that. I don't think we are too ambitious about where we want to go and we are growing organically. People want the sport so we are not having to push it and buy the people to want to come and watch us, it's all happening naturally.
"But there is always effort needed to stabilise it and F1 is doing that. As far as I know, in the near future there are no more races planned in the States because we don't want to balloon it. I'm pretty happy with where we are and what we are doing."
While the Miami race undoubtedly has work to do to fully convince the F1 fanbase, the drivers certainly seem to be fans. Many have expressed their delight to be racing in the city, including Lewis Hamilton who said it was a "dream" to be in Florida with F1.
But he also has his concerns, particularly after governor Ron DeSantis' move to ban schools from teaching pupils about gender identity and sexual orientation. Hamilton will wear the rainbow flag on his helmet this weekend and called on communities to "stand firm and push back", comparing the new Floridian law to Saudi Arabia's repressive LGBT rules.
