Why Formula One should return to Watkins Glen International

Formula One hasn’t raced at Watkins Glen International in almost 40 years. However, a return to the track would not be a terrible idea.

Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York hosted the United States Grand Prix from the 1961 to the 1980 Formula One season. However, while it has not been on the Formula One schedule since, returning to the track would not be a bad idea.

IndyCar made a return to the track last year after five years away, but the series will not race on the 11-turn, 3.40-mile natural terrain road course in the 2018 season, meaning the only top series that will race on the track next year will once again be the NASCAR Cup Series.

While Formula One currently has no imminent plans to return to return to Watkins Glen, Formula One race director Charlie Whiting believes that the track would be a great track for the sport, especially after the recent repave of its surface.

Four-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart actually did a car switch at Watkins Glen six years ago before the repave during which Hamilton drove Stewart’s Cup car and Stewart drove Hamilton’s Formula One car — the most recent time a Formula One car took to the track. They both thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

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While not likely in the near future, a return to the track would not be a bad idea at all. But while in terms of the world’s top three racing series only NASCAR still races there, the track is still a great track, and the venue itself would be great for Formula One. After all, the track is one of the most historic tracks not only in the United States and North America but in the whole world, and Formula One is known for prestige.

The United States Grand Prix has never been held at the same venue for more than eight seasons — except when it was held at Watkins Glen for 20 years in a row from 1961 to 1980. And Formula One just raced at Circuit of the Americas a few weeks ago for the sixth season in a row.

While the future for that track in Austin, Texas as the host for the annual United States Grand Prix does look bright even though the track chair has no immediate plans to renegotiate the track’s Formula One deal, a 10-year deal signed in 2012, the only track that has proven to be a successful option for the United States Grand Prix in the long run is Watkins Glen.

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A Formula One race at Watkins Glen International would likely give the track another long-term high-profile event that it sadly has not been able to secure with IndyCar. Could Formula One potentially turn to the track as the host of the United States Grand Prix if the success of the race at Circuit of the Americas fades in the long run to the point where a new deal with the track does not get done? It should certainly be considered.