Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsOpinion

IndyCar a route to F1 again - Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay says success in IndyCar is once again a route in to F1 due to the strength of the championship.

Alexander Rossi became the first American to race in F1 for eight years when he made his debut for Manor in the Singapore Grand Prix last year, while Mario Andretti was the last American to win a grand prix in 1978. Hunter-Reay - who won the IndyCar title in 2012 and the Indy 500 in 2014 - says an improvement in standards in IndyCar should encourage more F1 teams to look at drivers from the States.

"I think it is really about a fork in the road very early in your career," Hunter-Reay told Sky Sports when asked why more American drivers don't break in to F1.

"If you want to be in Formula 1 you have to come up through the Formula 1 ladder which is in Europe and if you want to be an IndyCar driver you come up through the American ladder and that is just the way it is.

"Once upon a time there was a road to Formula 1 through IndyCar success and I just think that after a few weak years by IndyCar that kind of went away. Now IndyCar's championship is as strong as ever, I think it is the best and most competitive it has ever been, and I'm not just saying that because I am in it. We demonstrate that week in, week out with the product on track."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.