TV-Conscious Formula One Knows World Is Watching

It may come as a surprise to the 225,000 people who paid $75 to $150 for tickets to Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix, but as far as Formula One is concerned, they are nothing more than a backdrop for a TV show.

“Formula One is a TV sport,” said Max Mosley, president of Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, governing body of world motor sports. “Fans at the track are like extras in a movie, filling the background.”

More than 275 million fans worldwide are expected to watch the race. To date, an estimated 4.6 billion have watched F1 races this year.

“It has always been extremely important for Formula One to have a round of the championship in the United States,” Mosley continued. “The difficulty has been finding a venue suitable for an event. We suffered with temporary sites, but now I think it is a positive development to have Tony George put so much into making this what we hope will be a permanent home. Indianapolis is synonymous with racing, wherever you go. That makes it a perfect match for Formula One, the world’s most popular form of motor racing.”

An estimated 55,000 Formula One faithful were on hand Friday, swarming over Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s grounds to catch their first glimpse of the high-tech Grand Prix cars that have not appeared in the United States since 1991 in Phoenix.

Only practice laps were run Friday, with qualifying today.

“I was happy to see so many people in the grandstands, which is not usually the case on a Friday,” said Michael Schumacher, Ferrari’s two-time champion from Germany, who goes into Sunday’s race only two points behind defending champion Mika Hakkinen of Finland. “I hope we can put on a good show for them in the race.”

After three hours of practice, the McLaren Mercedeses of Scotsman David Coulthard and Hakkinen were fastest around the 2.606-mile course with its 13 turns. Coulthard posted a 125.824-mph lap, with Hakkinen close behind at 125.598.

“It’s interesting driving the oval part [of the course] because you are flat out,” said Coulthard. “It makes you feel like a real racing driver. The difficult part is in the infield. Once you get into it, if you miss one corner, you miss the next two.”

About half the circuit is run on the 91-year-old oval, but in the opposite direction used by Indy and stock cars. The nine-degree banking is in what is Turn 1 for Indy cars, but is Turn 13 for F1.

“I think the circuit is great, really enjoyable to drive and quite difficult in some parts,” said Hakkinen, who is trying to become the first to win three consecutive Grand Prix titles since Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s. “It will be tricky to find the optimum set-up. The banked corner is not too demanding, but to find the right balance is very, very complicated.”

As is nearly always the case, fastest after the two McLarens were the Ferraris of Schumacher and Rubens Barichello of Brazil.

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The Facts

* What: United States

Grand Prix.

* When: Today, qualifying (Fox Sports Net, 11 a.m.); Sunday, race (Fox Sports Net, 11 a.m.)

* Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course, 2.606 miles, 13 turns), Indianapolis.

* Defending champion: Inaugural race.

* Race distance: 190.294 miles, 73 laps.