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The Americans care about Formula One about as much as I care about Rounders or whatever the NBA is?

But as I sat in an Irish bar in Montreal last week watching the final of the Stanley Cup (Ice Hockey, for those of you that live outside North America) it didn`t matter if I had a clue what was going on or if I supported one of the teams. All I was doing was entertaining myself watching some sport and having a drink after work with friends.

The strange thing about this though, I was watching Canada`s national sport, on TV, in a bar full of Canadians and nobody gave a toss about the game. This I later learnt was because the final was between Chicago and Philadelphia. So because Canada was not represented in the final of their national game most viewers switched off. I personally know nothing about Ice Hockey, I don`t know the rules, I can`t name a single team or player, but I still found it interesting and as the team in orange hit the ball with their bats into the net to win the final I actually found the sport kept my attention and was entertaining.

Can this be the same with other sports? Is this the same with F1? Will F1 ever make it in North America?

This weekend proved it with Montreal putting on a fantastic show for F1`s return to the continent. F1 had missed Canada and Canada has missed F1. Street parties were bigger and louder than ever, grandstands were bigger and at full capacity all weekend. And F1 responded, as it should, by putting on a fantastic race for the enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd.

So why is it a common belief that F1 will never make it in the USA? Are the Americans that different to the Canadians?

Football (or soccer, for those of you that live inside North America) is not regarded as a big sport in the US, but things are changing. The Football World Cup you may think will do little to change this, but as 17.1 million Americans tuned in to watch England v USA last week, things may be starting to turn.

South Africa has done a fantastic job of bringing Football, the world sport, to an audience in countries that traditionally do not follow the sport. There is an African feel to this World Cup and the multi cultural feel does go a long way to erase the hooligan atmosphere of previous clashes. Even the much-discussed Vuvuzelas add a certain African feel to the stadiums and TV audiences. Banning them would be a bit like hosting the Monaco Grand Prix with no champagne.

However, in the same way no Canadians were watching the Ice Hockey, will the Americans ignore F1 until they are represented with a race, a team or a driver? Well I personally think it will take all three and then some.

So we have an American GP in 2010. There is talk of a new deal to run an American team in 2010, all we need now is a driver. Easy!