In the United States, IndyCar racing and NASCAR are the big car racing draws, with large oval tracks that seat hundreds of thousands at a time. Around the world, Formula 1 (or F1) racing reigns supreme. Indy car racing (which is a blanket term for the “open wheel” racing style), while popular here in the US, has been described by Jacque Villeneuve, an F1 and IndyCar champion, as “laidback,” with less pressure. To be sure, F1 racing is not only international, but a much more expensive endeavor, with individual teams employing high-tech engineers or building top-cost facilities that feature wind tunnels. That alone dwarfs the IndyCar budgets of the U.S. F1 cars are described as having better brakes, faster speeds and being all-around more responsive.

While IndyCar racing is confined mostly to the U.S., F1 is a truly international spectacle, with races held in many different countries and on multiple continents. We have such big-name celebrities as Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on our shores, but F1, thanks to its international status and world-wide popularity, has brought forth legends of the track who thrilled – and continue to awe – spectators from around the globe.