"Let's put things in perspective. The TV ratings in the US have always been pretty dismal. Single-seater racing in America is extremely marginal and even a top-end NASCAR race only attracts the same sort of TV viewers as F1 gets in Italy for an average race. That's nothing to write home about."
...never mind that the majority of the races are on the NASCAR channel at oh-dark-thirty, and those that are on a broadcast network have less-than-stellar commentary and little if any pre-race promotion. And the network in question suggests viewers watch the Indy 500 on a competing network on the same day they were broadcasting a GP.
Since the NASCAR season has twice as many races as F1 (not counting pre-season warm-ups like the Bud shootout and Gatorade Duels), that Italian comparison is flawed - not to mention that there are 5 times as many people in the US as in Italy. The 19 million viewers of last year's Nascar finale is the same as every 3rd living soul (not every third TV viewer, every third homo sapien who can fog a mirror) in Italy watching one of them there pitstop passing spectacles.
"F1 has never got anything good out of the US. We've never had a big committed US sponsor. We could hold 10 Grands Prix in the US and a handful in Europe to boost F1's popularity in the States - but what would be the point of that?"
Why increase the fan base in the US? The marketing benefit to the teams who would love to boost the sales of Jags, Mercs, Ferraris, Red Bull, Shell, etc. How about Americans' propensity for buying branded merchandise? How about.....
Ah, forget it. Unless every GP fan put $100 in an envelope and mailed it to Bernie, he couldn't give a rat's...
Bernard, you snivelling twit, If you want to pull out of the US and go after the race fans in Slobovia, Kung Pao, etc., be my guest. And don't let the door hit your bum.
