Lewis Hamilton and Formula 1 stars enjoyed a record-breaking crowd at the U.S. Grand Prix as they look forward to more races around the nation in the future.

The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) welcomed a record crowd of 400,000 and a carnival-like atmosphere throughout the race weekend. It is no mystery that the record attendance was attributed to the intense rivalry between Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Netflix's wildly successful “Drive to Survive” docuseries. According to Business Insider, the show has garnered over 50 million views in 2021 alone, showing that the right steps have been made since the last iteration of the US GP in 2019.

The prestigious motorsport has never been this popular in all its years of racing in the nation—previous attempts of making their mark on the US have been futile. The current face of Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton chimed in on the strides F1 has made to finally penetrate the US market.

Via Nate Saunders of ESPN:

“I think this is definitely our acceptance into the U.S.,” the seven-time world champion said immediately after the race, in which he finished second after a tense battle with Verstappen worthy of the race's bumper crowd numbers.”What a place to be. It's a real honour to be out here, I hope we get more races out here.”

Another widely recognizable Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo also notes that he felt the massive growth of popularity of the sport within the country. Ricciardo shares that he was shocked that he was recognized even days before the race during his time in New York. The McLaren driver also sported US-themed outfits throughout the weekend.

“The crowd was insane this weekend,” Ricciardo said on Sunday evening. “Even downtown, it's by far the busiest it's ever been. It's just cool.

This is by far the greatest feat Formula 1 has had in the US, and with the first iteration of the Miami GP next season, Formula 1 can only hope for bigger and better things ahead.