What will it take to get American drivers in Formula 1?

By:

David Malsher-Lopez

May 19, 2021, 11:03 AM

The FIA says it wants American drivers in Formula 1, but would it take an IndyCar driver to transfer or does an American need to join the European junior ladder system to get there? By David Malsher-Lopez.

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Two weeks ago, following the announcement that a Miami Grand Prix was on the Formula 1 schedule for 2022, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was asked by Wall Street analysts about whether it was necessary to get U.S. drivers on the grid.

“The answer for me is very clear, it's yes,” was his reply. “You know, we are working with teams, trying to understand what is really the possibility for American drivers to come to the attention of F1 teams in the short term.

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David Malsher-Lopez

David Malsher-Lopez is Motorsport.com’s U.S. editor, covering the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Since completing journalism college in 1994, he has worked for Autosport, TRMG, Motor Sport, Autosport (again) and Racer, before joining Motorsport.com in 2015… where he has found himself enjoying a third spell writing for Autosport. Over the course of those 27 years, he has served as a journalist, sub-editor, features editor, deputy editor and editor. In 2015, he also wrote Will Power’s biography. David lives with his wife Sophia in California and when not writing about racing, he will be found reading about planes and classic cars, attending airshows, listening to a wide variety of music or watching cop shows from the ’70s. He intends to one day own a grand piano, an Airedale terrier and a vintage Pontiac. He doesn’t do Facebook and doesn’t understand Instagram but can be found @DavidMalsher on Twitter.