Austin – COTA does not disappoint
COTA – Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas. The circuit is a fair distance from central Austin and we found that the costs involved in getting to the circuit were very high – shuttle bus and Uber to and from where the shuttle left all added up to make this event one of the most expensive. Also, America is very expensive in general – no longer the land of cheap food and big portions! However the rest of the experience was fantastic. COTA provided a great Fan Zone – lots of shade and entertainment and food outlets. There should have been more water refill stations but at least they provided them. The Chrome tent provided WIFI and gave us McLaren drinking bottles so what is there not to like!!
The COTA event was hot, very hot but I am not complaining after the wind and rain of Europe. Our seats were in Grandstand 15 and our view was spectacular. We witnessed lots of overtaking and could see a large part of the track. Some of the teams were sporting USA specific livery and the Williams and Red Bull had great paint jobs. Haas also had USA livery, but was difficult to spot and needed more colour. It was a Sprint weekend in Austin and that made for some very exciting racing. The heat made the soft tyre option very limited (fastest race lap or qualifying) so mediums and hard compounds were the order of the day(s).
Austin was a sprint weekend, so two races and only one practice to get things sorted. The Sprint qualifying was awesome with lots of track limits and Ferrari and McLaren doing well and Mercedes popping up. The starting line-up for the Sprint had Max on pole followed by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton with the two McLarens of Norris and Piastri following up. The Sprint race was great with lots of action with Max winning but a resurgent Mercedes with Hamilton came second, although Russell only managed 8th. Leclerc and Norris came third and fourth with Ferrari and McLaren both looking good. The pleasing result was Checo coming in fifth. A great result for him as her has been under enormous pressure to improve and he has.
With all the cars improving, especially McLaren and Mercedes, the main race is looking fantastic. The qualies for the main race gave some great curve-balls with Max starting on 6th position and Leclerc on pole followed by …. Norris and Hamilton! Sainz and Russel were 4th and 5th respectfully. The race track being rough and the high speed cornering means that the race is all about strategy. Will Ferrari manage? The tyres to use are Medium and Hard, and the next question is how many stops. It is conceivable that only one stop will be needed. Who will choose what and how many?
The had an unusual start with both drivers of both Haas and Aston Martin starting from the pit lane after changing their car set ups. Most cars started on Hard or Medium tyres with the aim to swap over later. The race went off with a bang as Norris overtook Leclerc on the first corner and bolted off! Piastri and Ocon hit each other and eventually both did not finish as a result. As the race settled down strategy came into play. Again it is F1 chess. Only Leclerc and Hamilton were looking for a one stop race. Soon Mercedes realised their mistake and switched to a two stop strategy but good old Ferrari stuck with an obviously flawed plan and Charles paid the price! (How long will he put up with this? A great question). Back to the race. There were loads of overtaking and lots of action in general. The strategies played out and Mercedes waited too long to change their minds and put Hamilton onto a two stop about two laps too late. That’s all it took for Hamilton to not be able to catch Max. A real chance of a win blown! Max held on, just, to win his 50th F1 race, followed by Hamilton and then Norris. Sainz was fourth then Checo came in 5th. A great result for Checo. Leclerc came in 6th from being on pole position! Says it all. Alonso had a miserable race and had to retire, although Lance Stroll made it into the top ten. This was a great race and a circuit where almost everywhere had great views. After the race, Michelle and I climbed over the fence and got onto the track. We were too far from the podium but it was exciting all the same.
After the race, there were two concerts with the Killers on Friday night and on Saturday night Queen & Adam Lambert. Great concerts and a great way to finish the day.
As if Austin could not deliver more the news came through that Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified on a minor technical issue! WHAT? Yes, that is the world of F1!
P.S We met a very enthusiastic fan from Peurto Rico at our hotel who just happened to have a spare pit walk ticket – so Michelle got to see the pits in action on Thursday afternoon! Very lucky, not only made a new friend but had a fabulous experience.
