David Coulthard calls for fourth US city to be added to Formula 1 calendar
David Coulthard insists Formula 1 should revisit plans from a decade ago to race in New York.
F1 currently had three races in the United States, with Las Vegas set to make its debut in November to join Austin and Miami.
The sport had plans 10 years ago to race in Weehawken, New Jersey, on a street track overlooking the Hudson River, but the plan was foiled due to a contractual dispute.
Yet former McLaren and Red Bull driver Coulthard – who drove a 2012 Red Bull show car around sections of the track in New York – believes a race in the Big Apple would be the “perfect place” for F1 to find the sweet spot stateside.
“We tried to get a race in New York several years ago at Weehawken,” Coulthard told Autosport.
“I remember running in one of the Red Bull show cars. I drove part of the section of track n the F1 car and it was unbelievable.
“Opposite Manhattan, there was a section that made Eau Rouge at Spa look like kids’ stuff. If they ever were able to reignite that plan right there, I think that would be the perfect place.”
Coulthard, a 13-time grand prix winner who is now a pundit for Channel 4’s F1 coverage, added that each event would have its “own flavour”, given the different cities each race take place in.
“I think we can go to four races in the future, when you consider the land mass,” he said. “And that’s the utopian dream – to break America.
“They’ll all have their own flavour, they have to. State to state in America is very different, so race to race – each event has to reflect that.
“Austin is what we’re used to – a proper track, so we turn up and go racing. Miami is a bit of a hybrid track and Vegas is a playground for adults.
“Being in a city, rather than at a venue, the event will undoubtedly take over. And being a Saturday night race there’ll be a big buzz.”
After last week’s second edition of the Miami Grand Prix, F1’s next American race will be in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas in October before Vegas a month later.
