James Vowles on how the U.S. went from F1 outsider to its “fastest-growing market”

Williams team principal James Vowles has spoken on how Formula 1 has changed after the boom in popularity in the United States, and how influential this new market has been for the sport.

During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vowles commented:

“Yeah, it is hugely significant. I mean, what I always compare it to is where we were 10 years ago, where F1 wasn’t even really known as a sport or a brand properly within the U.S.

“And now, I mean, this is the fastest-growing market. A quarter of all of our partner-sponsors that are with the teams are American, which just gives you an idea of what it is.

“For us, Dorilton is based in America. We have a U.S. office. America is a core part of what we are doing as a sport. And as I said, what I’m really proud of is how that’s migrated across the last 10 years and, more importantly, probably the direction of travel over the next 10 years as well.”

Despite the increase in popularity in the U.S., there is no American driver on the grid. Discussing how close the sport could be to the next American breakthrough driver, Vowles continued:

“I mean, this would probably shock a few people, but I’ve signed a driver that I think has huge potential. But he’s 10, 11 now. And he wins everything that he can win in karting. But the reason why I bring that up is our Academy, pretty much, you are looking to sign up the individuals, they start a professional career from age eight. 

“And there’s definitely—there’s two names that I can think of, one that we’ve got, one that’s signed by a different team, that have huge potential. But what we’ve really got to do is structure the right pathway for them. And that means that a lot of them are living in Europe, the whole family decants to Europe. That’s the case for our young driver, Lucas Palacio. He will have a fantastic career, but he’s seven years away from getting into the sport. 

“What I can really reassure you on is the fact that we are investing in American talent at that age and properly investing. It’s real investment that we’ll be doing for the next seven years through his career. And we’re looking for more. That’s the right way to bring star talent through into the sport.

“Logan was, as you saw, he was able at times to be competitive, but on the most part wasn’t really working on the world stage at the level we needed him to be.

“What you need is, to your point, not just the passport, but you need to be an absolute star talent, able to win that goes with it.”