“Never say never,” IndyCar is open to a double header weekend with F1 outside North America

Formula 1 and IndyCar are the premier open-wheel racing championship in the world. The Former races on road courses while the latter majority of the times races in ovlas.

“Never say never,” IndyCar is open to a double header weekend with F1 outside North America

F1 and IndyCar

The IndyCar CEO, Mark Miles, has recently shed light on the potential of holding IndyCar and F1 events on the same weekend. As things stand, he deems it extremely unlikely but feels, Brazil could be an option where things could pan out for both parties. IndyCar has previously held double headers with NASCAR on a few occasions, and there is a possibility of staging more in the future.

While the IndyCar CEO feels having F1 and IndyCar events as a doubleheader is a tough ask, he is not giving up on the prospect. While stressing about it, he added, “It’s not something that anybody has had conversations about. I would never say never. But again, I’m not sure how that works. And unless we raced with them in Brazil or someplace, because they have the three events they want in this country.”

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“I don’t have any reason to expect that they want to add IndyCar to any of those three, the same weekend. And I don’t see us going to Europe or Asia during our championship. So I think it’s highly unlikely, but I wouldn’t consider the idea unfriendly. We’d have to see if all the pieces fit together.” Miles has given a very discouraging verdict on the potential of seeing IndyCar and F1 on the same weekend.

Considering that F1 is the pinnacle of motor racing and the operational demands are quite different from IndyCar, Mark Miles believes that the possibility of seeing both events on the same weekend is highly unlikely in the upcoming years. However, he has admitted that if an opportunity arises in the future, then he would certainly welcome it with open arms.

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F1 has grown exponentially in the recent years

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F1

There are not a lot of sports other than F1, which have witnessed a massive rise in its popularity in recent years. The pinnacle of motor racing has grown massively in the last few years and has become quite big in everything that happens during Grand Prix weekends. Moreover, the operational demands during the events are at an all-time high and are only going to increase.

IndyCar, on the other hand is still relatively new and is not as popular as F1. Because of its smaller scale, the operational demands of the sport are relatively less in comparison to F1, and this is one of the main reasons why it is extremely unlikely to see IndyCar races and F1 Grand Prix taking place on the same weekends. This could become a possibility in like 7-10 years, but currently, it is just not feasible.

F1 has gone through some massive changes in the last couple of years, and the way things are going, it is on track to see quite a few more in the upcoming years. Considering this fact, holding IndyCar and F1 races on the same weekends is the last thing on the priority list of the hierarchy of the sport. F1 is at a different stage in its growth cycle, and it would be best not to tinker with it.

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