Another week, another late newsletter!

I’m gonna blame the fact I was on airport pickup duty on Wednesday as some of our family have come to visit from the UK.

To make it up to you there is a bumper “In the marbles” section for you to enjoy or, if enjoy is too strong a word, read.

Last time out we talked about the Horner news and reviewed the F1 movie so, just as a warning, it’s full of spoilers if you haven’t seen it.

Oh, and we may have mentioned our very own movie trailer was dropping this week. If you have not seen that then it’s down below. Appreciate any shares you can do as for some reason social media algorithms don’t seem to like embedded links. Think they don’t want you leaving their platform to go watch content as they want you to keep doom scrolling with them ;-)

These are the main stories we covered this week but obviously you need to listen to the episode to hear what our thoughts were on them all

Horner….well obviously this was the first story!

McLaren drivers getting some backlash over lack of interaction with Hulk on the podium

Apple on the hunt for the F1 streaming rights in the US

Lance Stroll is not a fan of F1’s 2026 regs and a move towards a “battery science project”

MBS is looking at V8 engines as an option for 2029 onwards

Last but most definitely not least, we dropped our movie trailer. Oh, you want the link here you say? Oh, go on then ;-)

What’s in the vault this week?

Diving into the marbles that make up the dirty side of the track is where you’ll find some subscriber only content!

With the news about a potential Apple investment in the US streaming rights, we thought we’d thought we’d take a look at the US love of motorsport and how the F1 journey has taken shape here…

America loves motorsport.

If you can make it go fast and race it then America seems to have an audience for it.

Whether it's NASCAR, Indy Car, Truck Racing, Demolition Derbies, Drag Racing, Monster Trucks, and even Tractor Pulling.

So why is F1 not automatically in that list?

Formula 1 feels like it has been loitering around the edges of the US motorsport scene like the awkward new kid at the disco who wants to dance but isn't sure the others will let them.  The one who has spent a lot of money on their outfit to look flashy but still isn't sure they are doing it right.

But this is very unfair on America's relationship with F1.

F1 has a long history with the US and, while it might be trying to break it's way onto the dancefloor again, it has seen champions be crowned.

America loves sport but also loves a winner.  Combine that with a hugely patriotic outlook and you can see that watching Americans win comes very high on the wish list.

There is nothing wrong with this.

However, with so much sport out there to consume, you have to be top of your game to retain the audience as there is one thing not high on the American viewers list of key attributes; patience for failure.

Let's take a look at the USA relationship with F1 down the years and how it went from looking like it was taking root to having to start all over.

If we keep the disco analogy going, it's fair to say the US bust some pretty sweet moves on the dancefloor down the years but then managed to stand on it's own feet and face-plant the floor on more than a couple of occasions.

F1 in the US traces back to the very first year the championship was held in 1950.

The Indy500 counted towards the F1 championship for 11 years from 1950 to 1960 but it's hard to really count that due to the fact almost no F1 drivers came over to compete given the differences in regulations.

Towards the end of the fifties the US was seeing the need for a formal US Grand Prix and in 1959 the first US GP was held at Sebring in Florida.

With a rich racing history and the coveted "12 Hours of Sebring" event being held here, hopes were high that F1 would find a home.

While the race was considered a success from many points of view, the promoter did not see the audience up take expected so the race moved on to Riverside in California for the 1960 season.

A huge prize to try and whip up excitement and interest was not enough to save Riverside as a poor (and dangerous) track layout coupled with poor attendance saw this be the one and only US GP held there.

Then F1 seemed to find it's sweet spot in the US; Watkins Glen.

The Glen held the US GP for twenty consecutive years and became a firm favorite on the calendar.

F1 in the US was growing and in the late seventies there was an addition to the calendar.  In 1976 Long Beach, California, hosted the US Grand Prix  West and did so until 1983.  It was one of the most popular circuits in the US and was designed to be the "Monaco of the USA".  

With it's shoreline drive, tight hairpin, and street circuit layout you can see why.  

It's main issue was the cost to run it and the organizers decided that the money was best channeled into IndyCar so F1 left town in 83 although there have been rumors it could be looking to return.

In 1981 the ill-fated Caesar's Palace Grand Prix was held in the parking lot of the hotel and, despite being widely ridiculed, it made a repeat appearance in 1982.

In 82 we had the newcomer Detroit and Motor City seemed a perfect backdrop for F1.

However, while the circuit as pretty good, it posed a huge physical demand on the drivers. For a short circuit of only four kilometers, it boasted seventeen corners and at one point crossed a railroad!

It also had a problem with the track breaking up in the extreme temperatures so 1988 was it's final appearance.

With Watkins Glen and Vegas gone, Detroit was then joined for one year in 1984 by the Dallas GP.  It was a temporary track and temperatures hit 100 degrees which was a contributing factor to the surface breaking up.

It is most famous for the sight of Nigel Mansell's Lotus breaking down just before the finish line and he got out to push it.  He collapsed and passed out from heat exhaustion right after the line. He was one of only eight finishers.

With the prior four circuits all consigned to the history books, the baton was passed to Phoenix in 1989 and it ran until 1991.

It's main problems was that it was a street circuit with a poor design coupled with the decision to hold it in June when Arizona is a little on the warm side.

After Phoenix closed it's doors in 1991 we did not get another US race until the year 2000.

This really killed any US F1 momentum and it was all to do again as F1 re-opened on these shores at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  

Now though this was a re-designed layout not just running on the oval but on a newly constructed infield section that incorporated one of the oval's turns. 

The race would be the aforementioned face-plant as it managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

First, in 2002, Ferrari tried to stage a dead heat finish between Schumacher and Barrichello.  Schumacher was the known name and heading to victory but as he slowed to create the dead heat, Rubens actually took the win by 0.011 seconds.  This did not go down well with either the sport as a whole nor the fans.

However, worse was still to come in 2005.

At this point in F1 history there was a tire choice and teams could go with Bridgestone or Michelin.

The oval corner had started to become a hazard and as it was banked and taken at high speed the Michelin tires did not seem able to cope with the strain placed on them.  Several tire failures were seen.

The sport could not work out either a layout compromise to the circuit nor a way in which Michelin could guarantee the tires would be safe.  As a result, after the formation lap, fourteen of the twenty cars simply returned to the pits.  Only the six Bridgestone runners would start the race.

The fans were not amused and boos rang out as this mockery of a race continued.  Unsurprisingly the two Ferraris ran off into the distance and finished miles ahead of the third placed Monteiro in the Jordan.  

Great for him, but not for the sport's relationship with the US.

2007 was it's last race and it was not until 2012 that F1 returned to the US.

This time, however, it was to a purpose built circuit designed with F1 cars in mind.  The Circuit Of The Americas or COTA has been on the calendar every year since it joined with the exception of the COVID hit seasons and it’s a great track.

It is now joined by Miami and Vegas.

Miami was not that bad a race in reality but the "show" aspect did not go down too well with international fans on it’s debut however it seems to be finding it’s feet and has got better year on year.  

Vegas is Vegas so is always gonna have all the glamor and glitz but we think there is room for an “American Monaco” especially as the racing has actually been pretty good there.

There needs to be a certain element of US showmanship, but the lessons that need learning from the past are that it cannot be at the expense of the racing action.

Right now, F1 needs to have the show to pull in the eyes and convert some more folk to F1 fans.

It will be interesting to see if Apple do get the rights to this, will having it hidden behind a paywall slow down the amount of eyes being drawn into the sport?

If they do keep coming then will they ever get to watch an American driver again?

To lead with a Sap-Stat, there have been 57 US drivers down the years pulling off a combined 33 wins over 466 races.

However, you are really going back in time to start talking about ones with any success.  Mario Andretti won the title in 1978 after Phil Hill had won America's only other drivers title in 1961.  Andretti's win in the Dutch Grand Prix of 1978 is the last race won by an American.

Despite an amazing name, Scott Speed never amounted to much driving for Torro Rosso in 2006/7 and Alex Rossi only took part in five races in 2015.  

It has been slim pickings for US fans for a very long time.

Maybe an American team is the best place to start and, no offence to Haas, they will finally get one with Cadillac taking up a grid spot in 2026.

With the circuits looking like they could all offer something & an American team taking part, it does feel like the missing piece right now is the American driver for the fan base to get behind.

They won't settle for someone making up the numbers though as they crave the winning feeling.

On that basis America only has one option.

Give a seat to Brian ;-)