“What, do you live in a shoe box? Haven’t you at least heard of it?”įor years the American market has vexed Formula One, even as it grew into one of the most popular sports elsewhere in the world.
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“So many people I meet in America ask me, ‘What’s Formula One?’” Hamilton says before walking out to his autograph session a day before the Austin race. America hosts just one race per year, the fall Grand Prix in Texas, and Formula One lags in popularity behind homegrown racing circuits like NASCAR, not to mention the NFL, NBA and many other pro and college sports. Over some 20 races spread across eight months and five continents, the teams fight for the Constructors’ championship, while each driver vies for the individual title.
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Formula One comprises 11 teams with two drivers each, backed by brands like Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. In the U.S., however, such recognition is rare. Here, the British-born race-car driver is as big as a pop star. Fittingly, Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” blares over the loudspeakers. “I love your f-cking dog! You’re my f-cking hero!” Hamilton smiles and signs the hat. Another name-drops Hamilton’s pet bulldog: “Sign this for Coco!” he shouts. One clever devotee places a cap on the tip of his selfie stick, like bait on a rod, and stretches it over the throng. They shove hats, programs, posters, even cell phones in his direction. Hundreds of fans have been waiting for hours, pressed against a gate, in hopes of getting something, anything, autographed by the fastest driver on the planet. Piercing screams swallow up Lewis Hamilton as he enters an amphitheater at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Austin on a warm evening in late October.
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Lewis Hamilton, the greatest race-car driver of this generation, has big plans for 2017: Recapture a Formula One title he lost under bitter circumstances.