IndianapolisMotor Speedway

Origins

The **Indianapolis Motor Speedway** in Speedway, Indiana (suburb of Indianapolis) opened in **1909** and is the **oldest active motor racing facility in the world**. Built as a 4 km oval for motorcar testing and racing, it hosted the first **Indianapolis 500** in 1911 — a race that became the most prestigious open-wheel single-day event in motorsport. The Indianapolis 500 was officially **part of the Formula 1 World Championship from 1950 to 1960**, a unique arrangement where the Indy 500 carried full F1 points but was contested almost entirely by American oval specialists in Indy roadsters — not by F1 teams. F1 drivers rarely entered. The arrangement ended after 1960 when the FIA reorganised the championship calendar. F1 returned to Indianapolis with a **road course** built on the infield in **2000**, hosting the **United States Grand Prix from 2000 to 2007**. This was a different venue — using the front straight and Turn 1 of the oval, then twisting through a purpose-built infield road course in the opposite direction (clockwise instead of the oval's counterclockwise).

Layout

The **F1 road course (2000–2007)** was **4.192 km, 13 corners**: - Used part of the famous **front straight** of the oval (the yard of bricks crossing the start-finish line is partly preserved). - **Turn 1 of the oval** is taken **the wrong way** — F1 cars exited what would normally be the entry to Turn 1, banked to the inside. - The infield road course winds through 12 additional corners before rejoining the oval. Drivers reported the layout was **strangely lifeless** — the infield section was technical but lacked the elevation and drama of European circuits. The yard of bricks was the only truly memorable feature.

Legendary Moments

**1950–1960 — Indy 500 era**: The Indy 500 contributed F1 World Championship points but was effectively a separate discipline. **Bill Vukovich, Pat Flaherty, Jim Rathmann** and others won points without ever racing F1 in the conventional sense. **Alberto Ascari** entered Indianapolis in 1952 in a Ferrari and crashed out — the only top-tier F1 driver to seriously attempt the 500 during the championship overlap era. **2000 — Modern F1 returns**: Michael Schumacher won the inaugural modern US GP at Indianapolis for Ferrari, scoring the win that helped clinch his first Ferrari World Championship. **2002 — Schumacher slows for Barrichello**: Schumacher led Rubens Barrichello throughout the race. On the final lap he slowed deliberately to let his teammate cross the line first — Barrichello passed in the final 100 metres for the win. The "team orders" controversy reached its peak: F1 banned explicit team orders for 2003 (a ban that lasted until 2010). **2005 — The Michelin debacle**: 14 cars failed to start the race after Michelin determined its tyres were unsafe for the banked Turn 13 (actually the oval's Turn 1). Only 6 cars on Bridgestone tyres raced. Michael Schumacher won the race in front of a furious crowd of 200,000 who had paid for a 20-car race and saw 6. **One of F1's biggest commercial disasters** — the US race attendance never recovered. **2007 — Last F1 at Indy**: Lewis Hamilton won his second F1 race at Indianapolis. F1 then dropped the venue, returning to Austin (COTA) in 2012.

Quirks & Curiosities

The **yard of bricks** at the start-finish line — the original 1909 brick paving has been replaced with concrete and asphalt across the rest of the oval, but a one-yard-wide strip of the original bricks remains, kissed by Indy 500 winners every May. F1 drivers also kissed the bricks during the 2000–2007 era. The **Turn 13** of the F1 layout (the oval's banked Turn 1) caused the 2005 Michelin disaster. The banking generated unusually high lateral G-forces that the European tyre construction couldn't handle for the race distance. The **paddock** at Indianapolis is historically iconic — it's been used for IndyCar, NASCAR, F1, and American open-wheel racing for over a century. The Speedway's Hall of Fame Museum contains every Indy 500 winning car and many of the F1 cars from the 2000–2007 era. The **infield golf course** — Brickyard Crossing — sits inside the oval. It's one of the few golf courses in the world located inside a racing circuit.

Modern Era

F1 left Indianapolis after 2007 due to a combination of post- 2005 commercial damage and contract disputes. The venue continues to host: - **Indianapolis 500** every May (still one of motorsport's three Triple Crown races) - **NASCAR Brickyard 400** annually - **IndyCar Grand Prix at IMS** (same road course F1 used) - **MotoGP Indianapolis Grand Prix** (until 2015) The circuit maintains modern safety upgrades and could theoretically host F1 again, but Austin's Circuit of the Americas has held the US GP since 2012 with no plans to return to Indy. For F1 history, Indianapolis represents two distinct chapters: the **1950–1960 oval era** (where Indy 500 winners were F1 champions but never raced F1 in the conventional sense), and the **2000–2007 modern era** (which produced the 2002 team orders crisis and the 2005 Michelin disaster — two of F1's most consequential controversies).