Having grown up with a European father, Formula 1 was always on my radar. My father used to watch the races whenever he could but trailed off as my siblings and I got older and busier, along with the general dominance shown by a few drivers that made it less entertaining. 

I rediscovered Formula 1, like many others, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, through the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive. While entertaining, it is no secret that the show is horribly editorialized, creating tension and drama where in reality, none exists. The more one dives into authentic Formula 1 media, the more and more one notices how many of the plot lines shown on Netflix are insulting exaggerations at best. 

But the point I am most interested in today is not bashing Drive to Survive — there’s a column’s worth of content there for another day. My point is that IndyCar, America’s version of open-wheel racing, is a far better product than Formula 1 in almost every way.