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Why Are There Three F1 Races in the US?

21 October 202611 min read
Updated 1 day ago

There are three F1 races in the US because America became the sport’s biggest growth market after the American company Liberty Media bought Formula 1 in 2017. Miami joined the calendar in 2022 and Las Vegas followed in 2023, while Austin has hosted the United States Grand Prix since 2012.

F1 had no race in the US at all as recently as 2011, and the sport had already failed at nine American venues before Austin. We’ve explained what changed and how each of today’s three races came about.

Dan Sweeting

UK-based owner and editor of F1 Salaries. I track what F1 drivers, teams, staff and sponsors earn.

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Key Takeaways

F1 races in Miami, Austin and Las Vegas in 2026, and all three are signed until at least 2034

Liberty Media made the US a priority after buying F1 in 2017

ESPN’s average US audience grew from 554k in 2018 to a record 1.3m in 2025

F1 lost nine US venues before Austin, mostly because promoters couldn’t make the money work

Each US race uses a different business model, and F1 runs the Las Vegas race itself

Contents

1. The Three F1 Races in the US in 2026

2. An American Company Bought F1

3. Drive to Survive Grew the American Audience

4. US TV and Sponsor Money Followed the Fans

5. Why F1 Kept Failing in America Before Austin

6. How Each of the Three US Races Came About

7. Will F1 Add a Fourth Race in the US?

8. Frequently Asked Questions

The Three F1 Races in the US in 2026

Oscar Piastri at the 2025 United States Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri at the 2025 United States Grand Prix in Austin. Credit: formula1.com

The 2026 calendar has three American rounds, starting with the Miami Grand Prix on May 3 and the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 25. The Las Vegas Grand Prix closes the American season on November 21, and here’s where each race is held and how long it’s signed for:

RaceVenue2026 DateFirst RaceSigned Until
Miami Grand PrixMiami International AutodromeMay 320222041
United States Grand PrixCircuit of the AmericasOctober 2520122034
Las Vegas Grand PrixLas Vegas Strip CircuitNovember 2120232037

The US hosts more races than any other country, and the American rounds have helped F1’s revenue more than double from $1.78bn in 2017 to $3.87bn in 2025. They matter even more this year, because the war in the Middle East forced F1 to cancel its Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds.

There are three main reasons F1 went from no US race in 2011 to three today, and we’ve covered each one below.

Sources

1. An American Company Bought F1

Carlos Sainz on the Las Vegas Strip in 2025

Carlos Sainz on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in 2025. Credit: formula1.com

Liberty Media, which is based in Colorado, completed its takeover of F1 on January 23, 2017 at an enterprise value of $8bn. It moved Bernie Ecclestone aside after years in which he had never treated the US as an essential market.

Chase Carey, the new chairman and chief executive, said within days that the US was a real opportunity for F1. He wanted races in destination cities such as Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas, because he thought F1 needed “21 Super Bowls” on its calendar.

The plan was to make each race an event in its own right in a city people already wanted to visit. Stefano Domenicali has kept that approach since he replaced Carey as chief executive in 2021, and Las Vegas is the clearest result because F1 owns and runs that race itself.

Sources

2. Drive to Survive Grew the American Audience

Netflix’s Drive to Survive was first released on March 8, 2019, and it gave F1 a new audience in America. ESPN’s average US audience rose from 554k viewers in 2018 to a record 1.3m in 2025, and here’s how it grew season by season:

SeasonAverage US Viewers on ESPN
2018554k
2019672k
2020608k
2021948k
20221.21m
20231.1m
20241.1m
20251.3m

Apple TV took over the US rights in 2026, and its first season has sent mixed signals. Apple says ratings are up, while third-party data from Samba showed household reach falling in eight of the first nine races, although Samba doesn’t measure viewing on Apple devices.

Sources

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3. US TV and Sponsor Money Followed the Fans

The TV money rose with the audience, and ESPN was reported to pay about $5m a year at first and $75m-90m a year for 2023-2025. Apple TV took exclusive US rights from 2026 on a five-year deal reported at about $140m-150m a year, although none of those fees has been confirmed.

American sponsors followed the audience too, and one analysis counted 44 US companies sponsoring F1 teams in 2017 against 125 in 2025.

Oracle pays Red Bull around $110m a year to put its name on the team, and Mastercard became McLaren’s naming partner from 2026. Apple also made the film F1, which took about $629m worldwide in 2025.

Sources

Why F1 Kept Failing in America Before Austin

Before Austin, F1 had raced at nine US venues and lost almost all of them over money. This is because promoters paid high fees to F1 without any share of the TV income, and most of them had no public subsidy to fall back on.

Here’s why each US circuit lost its F1 race through the sport’s history:

VenueYearsWhy It Ended
Sebring then Riverside1959-60The promoter paid the prize money himself and Riverside drew only about 25,000 fans
Watkins Glen1961-80The organizers defaulted on payments to the teams and the track fell behind on safety
Long Beach1976-83F1 cost close to $2m a year, so promoter Chris Pook switched to CART for $500k with TV included
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas1981-82Crowds of no more than about 35,000 for a race in a hotel parking lot
Detroit1982-88It failed safety requirements because the organizers wouldn’t build permanent pits
Dallas1984A July race in about 100°F heat, and the promoter went bankrupt in 1985
Phoenix1989-91Small crowds, and Bernie Ecclestone paid the city $1.2m to end the deal
Indianapolis2000-07A fee reported at about $15m with no TV money or subsidy, and only six cars started in 2005

Long Beach is the clearest example, because promoter Chris Pook said “we could not make the bottom line work” even with 183,000 paying fans over three days. Ecclestone later called losing the race his biggest mistake.

There was no US Grand Prix on the calendar from 2008 to 2011, and Austin’s deal only came together because Texas agreed to help pay the hosting fee.

Sources

More Articles

Read more on the money behind Formula 1

How Each of the Three US Races Came About

Max Verstappen winning the first Miami Grand Prix in 2022

Max Verstappen winning the first Miami Grand Prix in 2022. Credit: formula1.com

Each race runs on a different business model, which is part of the reason F1 can support three races in one country without them chasing the same money. Here’s how the three races compare:

RacePromoterPublic MoneyRecord Crowd
AustinCOTA (Bobby Epstein)Texas pays much of the fee440,000 in 2022
MiamiSouth Florida Motorsports (Stephen Ross)None reported275,000 in 2024
Las VegasF1 itself$10m a year in tourism sponsorship315,000 in 2023

Austin

Local promoter Tavo Hellmund pitched the race in 2007 on the strength of a Texas fund that would help cover the fee, and Ecclestone granted him a 10-year deal from 2012.

Investor Bobby Epstein and billionaire Red McCombs then took over the project and built the Circuit of the Americas for a reported $400m. It opened in 2012 as the first US circuit built for F1, and the race has since been extended until 2034.

Miami

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross first tried for a downtown street race in 2018, but residents objected and the race moved to his Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Locals there sued over the noise, and a judge refused to block the first race in April 2022 before the residents dropped the case that June. Miami now has the longest contract on the calendar, which runs until 2041.

Las Vegas

F1 bought 39 acres off the Strip for about $240m to build Liberty’s own race, and it runs the event itself and keeps the ticket and hospitality income.

The 2023 debut was disrupted when a loose drain cover ended first practice, and Liberty has since agreed a settlement of more than $3m with fans that’s waiting for court approval. Our breakdown of what the US races pay to host F1 covers the money behind all three races.

Sources

Will F1 Add a Fourth Race in the US?

A fourth US race looks unlikely for now, because Stefano Domenicali said “three races in the United States is perfect” when F1 filed trademarks for a possible race in Chicago.

He has since said interest from cities including New York, Chicago and San Francisco is growing, but that a new US race would probably mean an existing North American round dropping out.

The US now has two teams on the grid, with Haas racing since 2016 and Cadillac joining as the 11th team in 2026 after paying a reported $450m entry fee. Cadillac is backed by General Motors and TWG, but there’s still no American driver on the grid.

Logan Sargeant was the last American to race in F1 before Williams dropped him in 2024, and Cadillac test driver Colton Herta hasn’t confirmed a race seat for 2027.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

How many F1 races are in the US?

There are three F1 races in the United States in 2026, which is more than any other country on the calendar. Miami hosts the first on May 3, Austin follows on October 25 and Las Vegas holds the last on November 21, and all three are signed until at least 2034.

Why are there 3 F1 races in the US?

There are three F1 races in the US because Liberty Media, the American company that bought F1 in 2017, made the country its main growth market. Drive to Survive then grew the American audience and the TV and sponsor money followed, while each race runs on a different business model.

What was the first F1 race in the US?

The first US round of the F1 World Championship was the Indianapolis 500 in 1950, which counted toward the title until 1960. The first United States Grand Prix was held at Sebring in Florida in 1959, and Watkins Glen then hosted the race every year from 1961 to 1980.

Will there be a fourth F1 race in the US?

A fourth US race isn’t planned, and F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has said three American races is the right number. Interest from New York, Chicago and San Francisco is growing, but he has said a new US race would probably replace an existing North American round.

Which US F1 race has the longest contract?

Miami has the longest contract of the three US races and of any race on the calendar, after a 10-year extension in May 2025 took it to 2041. Las Vegas is signed until 2037 after its June 2026 extension, and Austin’s United States Grand Prix runs until 2034.

Sources
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