2023 will be only the third Formula 1 season in which the sport has raced in the same country three times in a single year. In each of those years, a single driver has raced on home soil three times. We take a look at the F1 drivers who raced at home 3 times in a single season.
Eddie Cheever, 1982
The 1982 season was the first Formula 1 season in which the sport raced in the same country on three separate occasions. The United States Grand Prix West took place at Long Beach, the Detroit Grand Prix took place on a street circuit in Michigan, while the Caesars Palace Grand Prix took place on the parking lot of the famous hotel in Las Vegas.
Two American drivers competed in Formula 1 during the 1982 season. Mario Andretti made three appearances across the year, two of those being on home soil – at Long Beach and Las Vegas – and the other being in Italy, where he scored a podium finish.
Eddie Cheever, who finished 12th in the championship, was the only American to compete in all three American races in 1982, thus becoming the first driver to race on home soil three times in a single year. While Cheever retired from the Long Beach race, he recorded podium results in both Detroit and Las Vegas, finishing as runner-up to John Watson in Michigan and third at the season-ending Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
Antonio Giovinazzi, 2020
Eddie Cheever would remain the only driver to race at home three times in a single season for almost 40 years. That changed in 2020, which was the next season to feature three races in a single country. This time, it was Italy that hosted three rounds, with Monza, Mugello and Imola all appearing on the unusual, coronavirus-impacted calendar.
Like in 1982, a home driver took part in all three events, with Antonio Giovinazzi racing at Alfa Romeo. Giovinazzi did not have the same level of luck at home as Cheever did in 1982. He finished 16th in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and retired at the Tuscan Grand Prix, held at Mugello. The Italian scored only four points in 2020, with the last of those being recorded at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola.
Logan Sargeant, 2023
In 2023, Logan Sargeant will become the third driver to race at home three times in a single season. At the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Sargeant will become the first American F1 driver to race in the United States since Alexander Rossi at the 2015 United States Grand Prix. The Miami race is the closest to Sargeant’s home city, Fort Lauderdale – also in the state of Florida.
Sargeant will then race at COTA in the United States Grand Prix in October, before partaking in the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix, held on a Saturday night on the Las Vegas Strip, in November. The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix will be F1’s first visit to Vegas since the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, in which Eddie Cheever recorded a home podium. Given Williams’ form in recent seasons, Sargeant may need some luck to be in podium contention in 2023.
