The Circus Comes to Town: Formula 1, Globalization, and the Uber-Sport Spectacle

Bustad, Jacob J.; Andrews, David L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-22825-4_23

Jacob J. Bustad⁵ &
David L. Andrews⁶

Part of the book series: Global Culture and Sport Series ((GCS))

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Abstract

The concept of post-Westernization has been used to explain recent challenges to the structural, spatial, symbolic, and indeed sporting dominance of Western (for which, read: North Atlantic) nations by emergent forces and interests of non-Western nations and alliances thereof. As a result, numerous global sport organizations such as the International Olympic Committee, International Cricket Council, and FIFA have been the site of sporting geopolitical struggles. This has resulted in global sport’s foundational Western centre of gravity being challenged, and at times, usurped by non-Western actors and interests, to the extent that Maguire (1999) described post-Westernization as the fifth stage of sportization. This chapter examines the long-standing, at times haphazard, yet nonetheless processual and complex globalization of Formula 1, from the North Atlantic origins of its inaugural championship season in 1950 (wherein races were held in Britain, Monaco, the United States, Switzerland, Belgium, France, and Italy), to the subsequent spatial distribution of Formula 1 races across the globe (specifically in regard to the contemporary structure of the sport as directed by its owners, the US media company, Liberty Media). This discussion examines the complex, and at times contradictory, organizational, economic, and ecological motivations behind the sport’s current global expansion, and the characteristics of the most recent of discernible geospatial phases in the post-Western transformation of elite motor racing.

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Authors and Affiliations

Department of Kinesiology, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA
Jacob J. Bustad
Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
David L. Andrews

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Jacob J. Bustad
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David L. Andrews
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Correspondence to Jacob J. Bustad .

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Editors and Affiliations

Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
Damion Sturm
International Centre for Sport History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Stephen Wagg
Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
David L. Andrews

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Bustad, J.J., Andrews, D.L. (2023). The Circus Comes to Town: Formula 1, Globalization, and the Uber-Sport Spectacle. In: Sturm, D., Wagg, S., Andrews, D.L. (eds) The History and Politics of Motor Racing. Global Culture and Sport Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22825-4_23

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22825-4_23
Published: 10 June 2023
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-22824-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-22825-4
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