Penske wants Indianapolis Motor Speedway to evaluate F1 return

Newly-announced Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske wants the circuit to evaluate a potential return of Formula 1 as part of its considerations for future racing activities.

Penske's company was named as the new owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway following a takeover of its parent company, Hulman and Co., that will also see the NTT IndyCar Series change hands.

Penske spoke in a press conference on Monday at the circuit about his plans moving forward, and said that he had been impressed with the recent level of investment, but that he also wanted to consider other areas where IMS could improve - naming F1 as something to consider.

"I think we look at the speedway itself, the investment with the 100 million dollars that was put in a few years ago before the hundredth [Indianapolis 500], I think you've seen a tremendous change," Penske said.

"We want to add capability as there are more fan zones, what can we use this for? Can we run a 24-hour race here? Can we run a Formula 1 race here? What are the things we can do? This is a great asset.

"So I look at all of these across the board to see what can we do. This business is not broken. This is a great business, and the leadership team that's been here has done an outstanding job, and what we want to do is be a support tool."

F1 raced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway between 2000 and 2007 when the circuit hosted the United States Grand Prix, but dropped off the calendar as its struggled to recover from the 2005 race that saw just six cars take the start.

While F1 has a stronger foothold in the United States via its race in Austin, Texas, the sport has been clear in its desire to add more American races to the calendar in the future, having long-targeted a race in Miami.