Formula One will return to the United States in 2012, after an agreement was reached to build a brand-new racing track in Austin, Texas. As part of the deal, Austin will host F1 for at least 10 years.
“For the first time in the history of Formula One in the United States, a world-class facility will be purpose-built to host the event,” the sport’s rights owner Bernie Ecclestone told the official F1 website. “This will be the first time a facility is constructed from the ground up specifically for Formula One in the US.”
The U.S. Grand Prix was last held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007. America has hosted F1 Grand Prix’s in a number of locations across the country since the 1950’s, according to a report by CNN.
The U.S.’s relationship with the sport ended when a dispute between tiremakers in 2005 led to most drivers boycotting the race and only six competing. But speculation has been rife over F1 returning to the country for some time, after Ecclestone made no secret that he wished to make a fresh attempt to crack the U.S. market, CNN reported.
“We realize that over the last 30 years there have been one or two missing pieces from the previous editions of the United States Grand Prix,” Tavo Hellmand, managing director of US Grand Prix promoters Full Throttle Productions told the F1 website. “We have a tremendous opportunity at hand to do it right – to feature Austin as the backdrop and produce one of the great sporting events in the world.”
New York, San Francisco and Miami were some of the other locations vying to host a revamped U.S. Grand Prix.
