Red Bull, the reigning Formula 1 world champion, brought the launch of its new car to the United States on Friday, with fireworks crashing down on an ecstatic crowd in Manhattan, with motorsports fans cheering braved the bitter cold of the outside.
In a place where NASCAR and IndyCar once held sway, Netflix’s hit documentary ‘Drive to Survive’ has indoctrinated legions of new F1 fans across the US.
Neither the cold nor the strong winds blowing along the Hudson River could deter the dozens of people who showed up outside the Classic Car Club on Friday, hoping to see their favorite drivers heading to the launch.
“I followed it for a while and around 2017, 2016, it wasn’t that big in the US,” said Tyler Quinn, 21, a Manhattan college student who saved up last year to watch the race. Formula 1 to Canada and feared the growing fan base could make future travel prohibitively expensive.
“It’s exploded exponentially. You know, when I talk to people at school… everybody knows about F1, everybody recognizes certain things, everybody asks me questions. It’s growing fast and I’m really happy about it.”
Las Vegas will join Austin and Miami as the third US race on the 2023 calendar as F1 looks to make further strides in the lucrative North American market.
Speaking at the members-only Classic Car Club, where a garage for luxury cars is available to customers, Red Bull Racing Team boss Christian Horner told Reuters that “Drive to Survive” was a “game changer”.
“It seems to have generated interest in the United States, and not just in the United States, but globally,” he said. “Interest from the United States has been off the charts over the last couple of years which is why we now see so many brands getting into the sport.”
Source: Terra
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