With the flashy new races in Miami and Las Vegas, it’s easy to forget or overlook how important Austin’s Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is to promoting Formula One’s relevance in the United States.
Last year’s carnival-like event at COTA confirmed the extent to which F1 has disrupted America in recent years, with drivers and team bosses both commenting on how big it feels compared to other rivals. previous visit to the United States. COTA looks set to lift higher this year, with a record 440,000 fans expected in the days leading up to and including Sunday’s US Grand Prix (live on ABC, 3PM ET ).
“This year has been the best year,” boss Bobby Epstein told ESPN. “We sold out almost immediately.”
Much has been written about the surge in interest F1 is enjoying right now, greatly aided by Netflix’s Drive to Survive series. It shows no signs of abating – the first race in Miami in May generated great fanfare and the Saturday night street race in Las Vegas scheduled for November 18 next year seems to be became one of the highlights of the 2023 season.
F1 holding three races in the US seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. COTA, built specifically for F1, came in 2012 after several years without a race in the United States and when interest in the sport was low, following the notorious and controversial tenure race at Indianapolis from 2000 to 2007. It has been a mainstay on the calendar since and its contract was recently extended to 2026.
While this year’s return to the Austin location doesn’t match the hype and excitement generated recently by Miami and Vegas – perhaps in part because Max Verstappen ended the headlines two weeks ago – those two events still enjoying the novelty element.
Epstein argues that the COTA played a key role in ensuring that there is an established race in the US as the boom times begin.
“We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved and how the fans have recognized the efforts here. The sport is in Indy a little bit, but it’s realistically for the Indy 500 and IndyCar, it’s their home stadium.
“We built this venue for Formula 1. We made it the first home in the United States, definitely the first in this century or in the last 30, 40 years. I hope. It will lead to many successes that have happened.
“I don’t think it will be here… I don’t think anyone else has built a facility specifically for F1. It is said that maybe no one else is crazy enough to do it!”
COTA knows all about the novelty of being a new USA race. Once the initial buzz ran out for the Austin circuit, it initially struggled to establish a foothold in the mid-2010s when the realities of sponsoring a modern F1 race came home. In some of the more uncertain times, Epstein has sometimes expressed his concern about hosting a race seven days before or after the Mexican Grand Prix out of concern that the event would hurt ticket sales.
The fears are now gone. Epstein said he’s as excited as anyone to see the Vegas race, which is held on Saturday night three weeks after Austin’s 2023 event.
“I think it’s great. It’s going to be very unique,” Epstein said. “It’s great to be able to distinguish between events. The show is Vegas, it’s light and fun. That’s great.
“And we’re proud to be the US Grand Prix – we’re proud of it, we own it. There’s a whole unique package here. It’s going to last a long time. And then there’s the fun of Las Vegas, it’s going to be a great show, it’s going to be in the evening – but it’s very different from what we’re doing here.”
Fans of the Austin race can look forward to an event that combines F1 racing and supporting events with a carnival. Ed Sheeran and Green Day are making headlines on the music charts of events at this week’s COTA, while the circuit added a new grandstand on the field of Round 6. An American racer, Logan Sargeant, will join Friday’s practice session for Williams.
As was the case last year, COTA expects a large percentage of the fans in attendance to be those who have only properly discovered F1 in the last few years.
Asked when or if the chatter around F1 would subside, Epstein said: “I don’t think there’s a limit. [on F1’s popularity]. I think there is a growth trajectory that will probably slow down, but it will still be growth.
“It has the momentum it needs to keep growing. It reaches a demographic that many sports would envy and a lot of sponsors covet. A lot of people are becoming lifelong fans. , which includes a lot of younger fans who will be around for a while.”
The addition of Vegas and the seemingly unstoppable rise of the F1 Stateside profile have started speculation about a fourth race joining the existing trio in a few years, but Epstein thinks it’s too soon.
“It can happen. The F1 model is built on ‘what can we gain from a race?’ Shareholders want to know you’re making a big profit. That can ban a lot of races in the United States, it’s expensive to book a race, it’s very expensive to build a track, and you bid a lot. lots of money from other places, like in the Middle East.
“I think it’s too early to say four. Let’s do these three on solid ground first.”
