Marcus Armstrong names 2 international locations where IndyCar needs to race

Marcus Armstrong has asked IndyCar to spread its wings beyond the boundaries of North America. The premier American open-wheel racing series hasn't stepped foot outside NA since its last race in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2013.

Armstrong strongly recommended two international locations where IndyCar must race while addressing how the series should develop its fanbase and grow the sport. In a conversation with fellow driver Conor Daly on the Speed Street podcast, the Meyer Shank Racing driver spoke about the series' popularity in the UK, saying [1:10:25 onwards]:

"I feel like there's a lot of fans over in Europe who are so curious about IndyCar racing, but they just don't quite have the access to, as I say, absorb the information. I selfishly would love to race overseas in IndyCar. I feel like that would just be the coolest thing ever. I don't think the whole IndyCar organization understands how big it is overseas in the UK and Europe."

Armstrong also highlighted how Italian team PREMA Racing making its IndyCar debut in 2025 is already growing the series' Italian fanbase. However, he felt that the UK and Australia would be the top two international locations where the series needs to return.

"With Prema joining as well... you know it was already big in Italy, it's even bigger now. For example, if we raced in the UK, I think it would be such a huge event or if we raced in Australia... the Kiwis, the Aussies, they love IndyCar racing," Marcus Armstrong added.

IndyCar has previously raced in the UK at the Brands Hatch circuit and in Australia on the Surfers Paradise street circuit. According to Marcus Armstrong, IndyCar needs to revisit such venues to give its global fans more 'accessibility' to the championship.

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Marcus Armstrong urges IndyCar to learn from F1's global appeal

Max Verstappen's RB 21 at the F1 Grand Prix of Japan - Source: Getty

While discussing how IndyCar needs to grow in the new FOX era, Marcus Armstrong gave an F1 parallel. He explained how easy it is for racing fans to stream a live F1 session on the F1TV app or website.

"The access I have to watching all of that is so easy, it's all on an app. I don't actually watch the broadcast of F1. I just watch the onboards. So I'll watch the full session from, for example, I watch the full Q1 (qualifying session) from Liam's (Lawson) onboard. You can hear his radio and exactly what he's doing in the garage and all that."

"I feel like IndyCar could do more of that like just make it easier to absorb the information because if it was available to me, I would go back and watch every single driver onboard from the whole race because it's interesting to see what they experienced. The information is very digestible on F1TV."

Though IndyCar's international streaming service, IndyCar Live, provides similar access to the driver onboard, it comes as a separate video rather than an option within the official broadcast, like F1TV, meaning switching back and forth between the two live feeds becomes a task.

Marcus Armstrong has begun his first season with MSR on a strong note. The team's qualifying pace has been impressive, with Armstrong and teammate Felix Rosenqvist locking out the second row for the first race at St. Petersburg.

Though Armstrong clipped the wall and DNFed, he recovered well in the second race at the Thermal Club to secure a P7 result. The New Zealand driver's search for his first IndyCar win continues.