Indianapolis

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway stands in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, about 9.7 kilometres (six miles) west of downtown. It was built in 1909 at the instigation of the entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, who wanted a proving ground for the young car industry. After Brooklands it was the second purpose-built banked oval circuit. The rectangular oval measures 4.023 kilometres and has remained essentially unchanged since it was built. After early problems with the original surface, the track was laid with around 3.2 million bricks, which gave it the nickname "The Brickyard". The last brick sections were covered with asphalt in 1961, leaving only a narrow strip at the start-finish line.

From 1950 to 1960 the Indianapolis 500 counted towards the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. In those years the winning cars were built by Kurtis Kraft, Kuzma, Epperly and Watson. The Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari was the only one to take part in both the championship's Grands Prix and the race at Indianapolis during this period, doing so once, in 1952. Juan Fangio practised there in 1958 but chose not to race.

After two years of renovation and construction work, an infield road course built to FIA Grade One standard was completed inside the oval in 2000, using part of the oval, including the main straight and the southwest turn. It is 4.192 kilometres long, has 13 corners and is driven clockwise. The United States Grand Prix was held there from 2000 to 2007, and Michael Schumacher won it five times for Ferrari. In the 2005 edition the Michelin teams pulled into the pits after the formation lap, so only six cars started. The race was absent from the calendar in 2008, and in 2012 the United States Grand Prix moved to the Circuit of the Americas.