Stefano Domenicali is ‘clear’ on fourth US Grand Prix after F1 applies for race trademark

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Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has voiced his ‘clear’ position on a fourth race in America after F1 filed a raft of trademark applications for another event in the USA.

The debut of the Las Vegas Grand Prix last November saw Formula 1 once again heighten its presence in America. F1 has raced in the USA at least once a year almost every season since 2012 when COTA held its first United States Grand Prix, for the race’s return after four years.

Only in the Covid-disrupted 2020 season has Formula 1 not returned to America since COTA staged the 2012 United States GP. The Miami Grand Prix also joined F1’s calendar in 2022 on an initial 10-year contract, the same length as the contract Formula 1 signed with Las Vegas.

Stefano Domenicali is ‘clear’ that F1 is not working on a fourth American round

But a potential fourth Grand Prix in America has long been touted and Formula 1 only added fuel to that fire this January when it applied for trademarks relating to a race in Chicago. F1’s bid cited the Grand Prix of Chicago, Chicago Grand Prix and Formula 1 Chicago Grand Prix.

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It would be a tall ask for Chicago to stage a Grand Prix, however, owing to the demands that Formula 1 raises. And Domenicali admits Formula 1 believes the calendar is ‘perfect’ with it visiting Miami, Las Vegas and Austin, meaning a fourth Grand Prix in America is not the goal.

“One more race in the United States is not true,” Domenicali told Mundo Deportivo. “That is clear, it is not true. Three races in the United States is perfect.”

Formula 1 raises too many challenges for Chicago to stage a Grand Prix

Domenicali may feel that the Formula 1 calendar is perfect with three Grand Prix in America, yet F1 applied for trademarks for a race in Chicago to cover off the potentiality of the round. Talks also took place between Formula 1 and city officials over staging a Chicago Grand Prix.

But Brian Hopkins, the alderman for the second ward of Chicago, revealed in January that it was not a very long conversation. The demands and price that Formula 1 places on a city to host a Grand Prix also saw furthering the discussions with Chicago was an unlikely scenario.

“I’m told that F1 typically requires a 10-year minimum deal,” Hopkins told the Chicago Sun-Times. “That appears to be non-negotiable. The conversation did not get much past that.”

Chicago also held its first NASCAR street race in 2023 but Formula 1 asks for more. Hopkins added: “What we did with NASCAR, welding manhole covers, smoothing over potholes and calling it a track, that doesn’t work with F1. More complicated, thus [the] higher price tag.”

Why does the United States have three Formula 1 Grand Prix?

While there has been talk about a potential fourth Grand Prix in America, with Chicago one option, the United States having three races is already a controversial matter amongst fans of Formula 1. But it is important for the series to have races in multiple cities over the USA.

Fans in Miami wanting to see a Grand Prix before Formula 1 first visited Hard Rock Stadium in 2022 would have had to drive nearly 19 hours to visit the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. The same distance also faced fans in Las Vegas before Sin City returned to F1 after 41 years.

Fans in Europe do not encounter the same issues as F1’s record-breaking 24-round calendar in 2024 includes events in Italy (x2), Monaco, Spain, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Belgium and the Netherlands. It is possible for European fans to drive to each one of the Grand Prix.