Formula One returns to the United States for the first time in five years this weekend, when the U S Grand Prix is raced in Austin, Texas.
In the United States, however, the appeal of motor racing's glamour circuit has been lost on the country that sells more Ferraris and Porsches than any other with the oval cirucits of the NASCAR competition holding greater appeal.
The president of the Texas Motor Speedway who hosts two of NASCAR's biggest races, says NASCAR fans tend to look down their nose at Formula One fans and vice versa.
The U.S. has been a market Formula One covets but is also one that commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone has viewed as more of a luxury than a necessity as the circuit searched out new venues to expand its global brand.
But the teams, car manufacturers and sponsors have not been so cavalier about the importance of having a US race on the calendar with all of them keen to return to one of their biggest markets.
Once focused on wooing over NASCAR and IndyCar fans, F1 now appears more intent on catering to its base in yet another attempt to crack the US market, with the Austin venue the 10th to host the race.
