Will America Love US GP?

Next year something special will happen.

2010 will be the Chinese year of the tiger, the British year of a long-awaited general election, the deadline for the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq, the official end of the space shuttle programme—golly gosh, all kinds of things will be happening.

But for those enthralled by the scream of racing engines, 2010 will be marked by a very significant event indeed, the first ever US Formula One team will kick their tires and light their fires to compete for glory in the world's most glamorous and expensive sport.

The US does have a long history of involvement in F1.

Ford is an American company, and have run F1 teams in the past, but always very much as subsidiaries based overseas. The US has also produced two F1 World Champions, which may not sound many, but you may be surprised to know it is twice as many as Germany.

Next year US GP will compete in F1 as a US-based and US-owned team, they will be Team America without the puppet sex.

For US GP to survive and thrive, they need two things to happen.

They need to be good enough to not look foolish, and they need home support, a mass of US viewers tuning in and turning on to watch the races. Without that home support they will not attract and retain sponsors, and without sponsors they will wither and die.

Now I don't want US GP to wither and die, because I sincerely believe F1 needs more involvement by the world's No. 1 economic and technological country, so I am counting on the US public to lift your one and only F1 team to the heights. Can you do it? Yes you can.

That does not mean NASCAR fans - and let me say a big hello to Kelly, Jen, and Mary Jo—need abandon the four-wheeled love of their lives. US F1 will be a plus, and will take nothing away. You can still enjoy your space-frame non-stock cars powered by antiquated engines racing around oval tracks. And around and around and around.

Just kidding, I'm not really knocking NASCAR. I used to own a racing oval, although I was only ten years old. As NASCAR is based in the bible-belt, I refer you to Corinthians 13:11.

US GP will fly the stars and stripes at race tracks globally, watched by countless millions of viewers. It will be a real big shame if America does not support them.