With the many rumours floating around the internet, it's plain to see there is a lot of work going on by various elements of FOM to get a USGP back on the calendar sooner rather than later.

Before I get into the politics and problems of F1 in America, I'll handicap the choices given in the Pitpass poll and discuss a couple others.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The quickest, easiest option. IMS could hold a GP next week, or in reality 4-5 weeks after what's left of the Indy 500. As far as the track itself is concerned, there were some interesting bits. Down the main straight into Turn1 and onto the back straight was decent. The blast into the short chute and back onto the main straight yielded some entertainment, and not just at Ralf Schumacher's expense. However, the double hairpin "Mickey" and "Mouse", according to Jacques Villeneuve, was as bad as any section of Tikle-ized track in the (almost) free world. The Moto GP-ism of the track, removing both Mickey and Mouse and bypassing the Ralf Schumacher/Michelin Wall of Shame, eliminates the 2 most egregious portions of the track.

In 2007, the race had an attendance of 80-85,000, which would make it one of the best-attended events of the year. Bernie's comments about the "wrong type of people" going to Indy are just baffling, not to mention plain wrong. A crowd of over 80,000 just a year removed from the Great Bibendum Blunder is damn good, especially given the rampant rumours that it would be the end of the run for Indy. And since when are paying customers the "wrong type?"

However Bernie was right in one other aspect; the race was never properly promoted. For that I would put blame on the manufacturers of the time specifically Toyota, BMW, Ford/Jaguar, and Mercedes. Then I'd throw in (or under the bus) Dietrich Mateschitz, Bridgestone and Michelin, Panasonic, and Shell for good measure. All those companies are very high profile in America, yet there was no advertising from them pimping their products that would be on display at America's sentimental home of racing, in the highest level of motorsport on the planet. This goes to the bigger problem of F1 in the US but that's better left for later.

Indy's biggest negative was that it didn't look good enough on TV for Bernie. There were vast swathes of empty aluminium in the last turn and down the main straight down low. Bernie apparently was furious that TV showed the empty seats in those areas. I've got a news flash for him: those seats suck. I sat there the first year, right across from the podium, and while it was okay when it rained (there was a roof over my head) I had to rely on the TV screens to see any of what was going on. A flash of colour going by at 200 mph is not why I go to the track. The next 4 times I went, I wandered around the general admission areas and got to see the cars from various points on the track. There were tens of thousands of paying customers who sat in the grandstands in the Turn 1 area. Just go and research pictures online.

Indianapolis is a typical Midwest city. It's not one of the great cities of America like Chicago, New York, or Los Angeles, but despite its quirks, it had a decent relationship with F1. However, the fact that the IRL hired a rodeo clown to replace Tony George (there's an irony in itself), points to a lack of focus, and an inability to figure out what they want to be, let alone be a viable or even watchable series. Even with the IRL losing millions of dollars and fans, I don't expect the F1 circus to return to the Speedway. It would be too much of a loss of face for both sides.

Laguna Seca

This place really should be on the very, very short list of serious venues to host the USGP. "The Corkscrew." Enough said.