"I never quite understood why people weren't into Formula 1" - Lewis Hamilton believes F1 awareness is 'booming' in the United States

Lewis Hamilton feels that F1 is finally penetrating the American market. The Miami GP this weekend will be one of two races to be held in the United States this year. Next season, F1 will have as many as three races in the US, with the inclusion of Las Vegas.

Speaking about F1's footprint in the US, Hamilton said that he always wondered why the sport had not caught on in America. The Briton feels that with the Netflix series Drive to Survive, F1 is gaining momentum and is here to stay.

The seven-time world champion was questioned on the chat show Good Morning America if he felt that the sport was here to stay. He replied, saying:

“I think so, yeah. I’ve been coming out here for a long, long time, but I never quite understood why people weren’t into Formula 1. Everyone knew NASCAR and, obviously, you’ve got such huge sports fans out here. But, the Netflix show, particularly through the pandemic, has just brought massive awareness to the sport, and now it’s booming.”

Hamilton further expressed hope that the Miami GP was going to be a nerve-wracking experience for him and the entire paddock. Claiming that the spectacle is surely going to be something that has raised the anticipation for everyone, he said:

“It’s been nerve-wracking because it’s going to be huge, such a huge event for us. We obviously have the race in Austin, Texas, which has always been amazing. The first race I had out here was Indianapolis in 2007 but now, with the Netflix series Drive To Survive growing, we have two Grands Prix in the States, and then we have another one in Vegas next year. It’s going to be huge.”

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Lewis Hamilton will be looking to gain the upper hand in the intra-team battle

Lewis Hamilton currently trails his teammate George Russell by 21 points. The season has not gotten off to a positive start for the Mercedes driver as he faced set-up issues in Saudi Arabia and ran a poor race at Imola. At the same time, Russell has kept his nose clean and finished in the top 5 in all the races so far.

After a poor showing at Imola, Hamilton received copious flak from former drivers like Nico Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher. The seven-time world champion will be looking to set the record straight this weekend by putting together a much better effort against his teammate.