This weekend, the 2023 Formula One World Championship gets underway in the Middle East with the Bahrain Grand Prix. On the grid, Logan Sargent, a Fort Lauderdale-born driver who has spent the past several years racing in Europe, will become the first American driver to race in the series since Alexander Rossi in 2015. But in some respects, the event will be as notable for the American driver not participating as the one who is.
As drivers and teams swapped rides late last year and over the off-season, it became obvious that an American-born and American-based driver who wanted to make a move to join Formula One could not get the regulatory approvals to do so. The controversy ultimately came down to Formula One’s institutional bias in favor of the European-based feeder series, which the organization that runs Formula One just so happens to control.
Even as it makes a renewed bid for American fans by adding a second U.S.-based race to the annual schedule in Miami last year and a third in Las Vegas this year, Formula One continues to give the cold shoulder to drivers from the American racing series. It does so for two uniquely European reasons: A combination of bureaucracy and chauvinism.
Migration from IndyCar
The American driver in question, Colton Herta, previously explored joining Formula One prior to the 2022 season. The son of an IndyCar veteran, the second-generation driver became the youngest-ever racer to win an IndyCar race by capturing an event just before
