As the sport appears set to ditch Spa, one of the most celebrated tracks on the calendar, Kevin Magnussen reveals the "extreme" American tracks he wishes F1 might consider visiting.

Dropped by Haas at the end of 2020, the Dane headed across the Atlantic, contesting a round of the IndyCar Championship with Arrow McLaren SP at Road America, and ten rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Chip Ganassi Racing.

His IMSA outings saw him racing at classic venues such as Daytona, Watkins Glen, Sebring, Mid Ohio, and Laguna Seca, and as he anticipates the arrival of Las Vegas on the F1 schedule, alongside Miami, the Haas star wishes F1 would consider some of these classic venues.

"There's a lot of good tracks around the world that I'd love to drive a Formula 1 car at, and a lot of them, you know, might not be realistic," he admits.

"There's some US tracks that I tried last year that I'd love to have a go at in one of these cars," he adds. "I'd say Watkins Glen is a great one, and I actually think Formula 1 cars could run there... maybe safety wise not so much, but in terms of the smoothness of the track. And Road America... Road America is awesome.

"There's even places, like not so realistic ones, like Mid Ohio, that I really enjoyed, little places that are just so crazy to drive when you've been in Formula 1 for so many years.

"It's nice when Formula 1 goes places that are a little extreme," says the Dane. "When we went to Mugello a couple years ago, that was... it felt like something else. It's something that we don't usually experience, and it's just a lot of fun.

"We're racing drivers, we enjoy driving cars on crazy tracks, but there's a lot to it when it comes to picking out tracks for Formula 1 races."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Superbird70, 16/08/2022 14:39

"Regardless of the venue, the cars need to become, smaller, lighter, and nimbler. We might as well watch tractor trailers racing at Spa if the current trend towards bloated F1 design continues."

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2. Posted by kenji, 15/08/2022 22:43

"Personally it matters little where the races are held, venue is second on my list. Living here in Oz we are a very long way from anywhere so very late night/early AM races are normal for us!!! For the best racing we need to have circuits that challenge the drivers so that we may witness their supreme talents preferably at circuits that have a proven pedigree for that. Now that we are starting to see closer racing, in an overall sense, some circuits which were notorious for boring trains are starting to give us better racing. This whole 'destination city' desire is purely commercial and that fits as F1 is basically a business first and posing as a sport second and from the viewpoint of 'bums on seats' it is definitely the current driver of success...but pales into insignificance when compared to the TV audiences globally, who apart from the initial change of scenery are really only there for the competition. Just give me close competitive racing and I'm a happy chappy...no matter what time it starts and where it starts.Tradition is fastly becoming outdated in a world that moves at warp speed!"

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3. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 15/08/2022 20:22

"@Editor - I'm blushing."

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4. Posted by Tardis40, 15/08/2022 18:42

"This has to be about money. That's all they care about."

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5. Posted by Defiant, 15/08/2022 18:11

"I don't care about the timing of races at all. Maybe cause I just watch highlights these days, but back in yesteryear I didn't care about late or early race starts either, I just watched live regardless.

I agree with ChickenfarmerF1, location is secondary to me, I just want to see races at tracks with character not these awful cookie cutter ones that Tilke builds, or worse, the ones that are forced into existence by the fact the city decides to pay for a spot... yes, im looking at Vegas and Miami just to poke at two of far too many.

I'd love to see some old classic tracks re-emerging onto the calendar or some new circuits getting a shot."

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6. Posted by Editor, 15/08/2022 16:52

"@ ChickenFarmerF1

Post of the Week

And it's only Monday"

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7. Posted by Anthony, 15/08/2022 16:45

"If we are going to have three US races, it’s a pity that they can’t ditch Miami and Las Vegas for a couple of the tracks mentioned by Kevin. Having said that I will always associate Watkins Glen with Francois Cevert and Helmuth Koenig……"

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8. Posted by mds167, 15/08/2022 16:38

"+1 @ChickenFarmerF1. Let K-Mag express his desire to drive interesting tracks, wherever the may be. As I don't pay for Sky in the UK I rarely get to see F1 live. I would love to see it at Watkins Glen, on catch-up or highlights rather than some of the modern tracks."

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9. Posted by ChickenFarmerF1, 15/08/2022 16:15

"Rather than hyperbolic whining about additional races in the USA why not take this at face value that it's just a wish list from someone who's driven on tracks not in the F1 calendar that would like to see some of them added?

I get that European F1 fans don't like watching races at 10pm. Or midnight, or whenever the time zones dictate. Being west coast USA I don't especially like getting up for a 5am race start during much of the European part of the season, but I don't whine about it. If you don't like the time the races are on live TV, there's technology that's existed in various forms for several decades to record the race for playback later. And there's streaming services available in many places that let you watch it on-demand. I just try to avoid Pitpass until I can watch the race.

How's about we ditch the souless Tilke tracks no matter where they are, and race at interesting tracks no matter where they are? If that's eurocentric, or USA-centric, or any other geography-centric, who the heck cares? It's supposed to be a "World Championship" not a "Europe Championship" or "USA Championship" after all.

All that said, I would really like, just once in my life, to get to see F1 cars streaming through the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. "

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10. Posted by Superbird70, 15/08/2022 15:48

"What if Aramco plows some of its $48 billion profit from the first quarter of this year into F1 to build exact duplicate tracks in the USA and various Arabian peninsula countries? Everyone will be happy. The classic tracks will be the preserved and travel will be limited to only to geographic areas. F1 wins, the USA audience will be served and spectacle will go on.

They built a replica Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas so who is to say?

If that doesn't happen then Spa and other tracks will be relegated to preservation in the likes of Forza Motorsport."

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11. Posted by F1nerd, 15/08/2022 15:28

"We don't need any more races in America, the times in Europe are not good for enjoying a race. The current circuits such as Spa, Monza etc are ideal for Formula 1. Plus there are more in Europe that are great circuits."

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12. Posted by KKK, 15/08/2022 15:27

"Sorry to hear that, but then why is Magnussen driving in F1 ? If you like the tracks there so much, go there."

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Magnussen yearns for "extreme" F1 tracks

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