Return to Indy would be “very good for Formula 1”, says Todt

Jean Todt, president of the FIA, says he believes that Formula 1 returning to Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be very good for the sport because it “has all the ingredients” of an F1 venue.

Todt, who is in Indianapolis to attend tomorrow’s 104th running of the Indy 500, spent the morning at IMS and in the company of Roger Penske, who bought the hallowed facility, along with the IndyCar Series, last November.

The IMS road course hosted Formula 1’s U.S. Grand Prix from 2000 through ’07, before the event went on hiatus. When F1 returned to America, in 2012, it raced at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, TX where it has remained ever since.

However, the U.S. GP, along with the other North and South American F1 races, have fallen victim this year to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked by Motorsport.com if a potential return to Indianapolis is something the FIA would support, Todt replied: “Well you know the responsibility of the calendar is with the commercial rights holder, but clearly Indianapolis has all the ingredients of a Formula 1 venue, all the facilities.

“Roger Penske and his group have taken the lead, and I was very impressed with what I saw this morning. All the improvements have been done in a very short time; Roger has already achieved quite a lot with facilities that were already very impressive.

“Indianapolis is a kind of Silicon Valley of motor racing in the U.S. so of course if the Formula 1 commission proposed to have a race at Indianapolis it would be very good for Formula 1.”

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