Whilst Formula One is often described (by itself) as the pinnacle of Motorsport, the North American top level single seater category has its own global claims to fame.
The Indy500 race held at the International Motoracing Speedway is a challenge few F1 champions have ever completed. With speeds of up to 240mph around the 2.5 mile oval circuit the drivers literally today dice with death over every one of the 200 laps over which the event is run.
Indy500 largest global spectator event
Crowds for the Indy500 race which is held on the closest Sunday to Memorial Day exceed 300,000 – far larger than any Sunday at a Formula One Grand Prix. It is also the single largest stadium crowd attendance in any sport each year.
The Indy500 has a number of registered trade marks one of which is “The greatest spectacle in racing.”
Formula One recently muscled in on a registered trade mark used by the Indy500 and were put back in their place. When tweeting a 30 second promotional video for the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, F1 described it as “the greatest racing spectacle on the planet” to be held in “the sports and entertainment capital of the world.”
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F1 trash Indy500 trademarks
The at the 20203 Miami Grand Prix, LL Cool J compared an introduction of all 20 F1 drivers before the race.
“What’s up, Miami? Let me introduce you to the 20 best drivers in the world. This is the greatest spectacle in motorsports. This is Formula 1,” said LL Cool J.
Mark Miles, the president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp., which owns and operates IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, believed the message infringed upon IMS’s long-held trademarks around the Indianapolis 500 (‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’) and IMS (‘The Racing Capital of the World’).
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When interviewed over Formula One’s messaging about Vegas and Miami, Miles told IndyStar “and my reaction was, ‘I’ll bet you race fans know that’s a crock of s**t. ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ is right here (at IMS) in May, by every measure.
“And I don’t expect (the potential trademark infringements) to continue. We had a little conversation with them.”
Formula One guards their trademark carefully and when Liberty Media bought the commercial rights to the series they forced long standing fa states such as FormulaOneFanatic.co.uk to change its name to Racefans.co.uk.
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IndyCar champ: “F1 is a joke”
F1 came under another attack from one of the IndyCar champions and winner of the gruelling 500 mile race in Indianapolis.
Will Power is a respected elder statesmen in the current field of Indycar drivers and he had a message for Formula One proper to the new street circuit event held in Detroit over the weekend
“Formula 1’s a joke as far as the competition, but not as far as drivers. They have amazing drivers. And I feel sorry for them that they don’t get to experience the satisfaction we do with our racing because that is the top level of open-wheel motorsport.
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Power explains how tough each win is
Speaking to NBC Sports Power claimed of Indycar, “It’s so tough, an amazing field, the toughest field in the world, and people need to know it, especially compared to Formula 1.”
“I think Formula 1 would be so much better if they had a formula like IndyCar. I love the technology and the manufacturer side of it, I think that’s awesome, but from a spectator watching, man, how cool would it be if everyone had a Red Bull?”
“You simply know Max is going to win every race if something doesn’t go wrong.
“Imagine being a guy coming out as a rookie, and you probably could win a race. It would be really cool to see. But you know that would never happen with the politics over there.”
Indycar title last race deciders for 17 years
As far as competition is concerned Power is right.
Indycar drivers’ titles have now gone down to the least race of the year for 17 consecutive years and each season sees multiple teams and drivers winning races and claiming pole positions.
Something us Formula One fans could only dream of as the Red Bull and Max Verstappen band waggon rolls most likely until at least 2026 – when the new engines arrive.
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CRAZY CRASH IN THE INDY 500 😱😱😱
Luckily both drivers are out of their vehicles
— Rubbin is Racing (@rubbinisracing) May 28, 2023
Power is right in principle. A spec series would create a much different series for F1. But with the more recent rules package, the gap between the front row and the back row is narrowing. As to the drivers … Indycar is populated by a lot of drivers that could not get a drive in F1, not being able to progress past the lower series, failed out of F1, and some were banned from the European series (Santino Ferrucci).