Would F1 add a fourth U.S. race or replace one of the three existing ones?
Formula 1 might be looking to add another U.S. city circuit to its calendar over the next few years. Nothing has been confirmed, or even hinted at, by the FIA but a new trademark filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) shows that Formula One Licensing applied for four different Chicago race names earlier this month.
According to PlanetF1, The four different trademarks filed on January 19, 2024, are as follows: Formula 1 Grand Prix of Chicago, Grand Prix of Chicago, Chicago Grand Prix, and Formula One Chicago Grand Prix.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that there will be an F1 race in Chicago anytime soon. It only means that F1 thinks that it could be possible one day and it wants to lock up the trademark rights, just in case it needs them. Companies of all kinds like to future-proof themselves by filing patents and trademarks for anything they think is possible.
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If there is a Chicago Grand Prix, it won’t happen until 2025 at the absolute earliest, as the 2024 season calendar is already set. If it does happen, it will be interesting to see if F1 replaces one of the existing United States races—there are currently the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and the Miami Grand Prix—or if Chicago would be added to the calendar. The latter would give the U.S. four different F1 races, by far and away more than any other country.
F1 has shown interest in The Windy City before, though, when it set up a little popup circuit with Red Bull. However, there haven’t even been any public discussions between F1 and the city of Chicago, so at least for the moment, this is just a preemptive trademark filing. This also wouldn’t be the first street race through Chicago, as NASCAR held one last year and will be doing so again in 2024.
While there’s no official word on a Chicago Grand Prix, the other aforementioned U.S. grand prix did become realities shortly after their names were trademarked. So it’s entirely possible that we see F1 cars driving through Chicago as early as 2025.
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