George Russell Believes F1 Can Thrive in America With Good Racing

“It’s 4 within the afternoon, and I’m in the course of a nightclub,” Mercedes Components 1 driver George Russell laughed, admiring the spectacular gold paneling simply behind him — an apparent signal of the wealth and social gathering environment that will probably be accompanying 2023’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

I had an opportunity to meet up with Russell throughout this previous Saturday’s Las Vegas fan pageant, the place F1 took over the Las Vegas strip as a part of an activation designed to proceed rising the game’s hype in America. That American development was, in fact, one of many many issues I wished to debate with the driving force.

“I feel how the game is rising on a complete throughout the globe is unbelievable, however particularly in America,” Russell mentioned. “It’s greater than only a race now — it’s this mega occasion for the followers at dwelling, for the followers on the races, and to have the addition of Las Vegas goes to be fairly spectacular.”

Anybody conversant in the F1 scene is aware of that Netflix’s docuseries Drive to Survive has performed an enormous position in introducing the worldwide sport to an American viewers, however Russell additionally credit F1’s rulemakers with a part of that change.

“Components 1 had put loads of emphasis on attempting to make the racing as thrilling as doable; as loopy as it could sound, that’s by no means really been finished earlier than within the historical past Components 1,” Russell mentioned. “Previous rules have been by no means made with the only goal to make the racing higher for the followers. This yr was the primary try at it and there’s already been an actual uplift in how thrilling a race goes to be, and I feel it’s solely going to get higher and higher.”

Russell is referring to the ruleset launched for this 2022 season; amid the conventional slew of technical rules emerged a brand new objective to make the racing extra aggressive due to issues like price range caps, aerodynamic alterations to allow nearer racing, and extra. Mercedes didn’t precisely get the formulation proper for 2022 — in reality, Purple Bull Racing largely dominated the season — however Russell is appropriate in noting that there’s been an uptick in aggressive battles, if solely additional down the sphere.

However one large query has began to emerge: How lengthy will F1’s recognition develop earlier than it plateaus — or plummets? Even with three races in the USA, will the game have sufficient grasp on the fanbase of Common Joes to retain F1’s newly outstanding place within the public consciousness? Over 43,000 followers turned up for the Las Vegas fan pageant alone — however will these followers find yourself burned out?

So, I needed to ask Russell what F1 can do to retain these viewers, and his reply was nearly refreshingly easy: “So long as the racing is sweet, individuals are going to have an interest.”