Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the rules that Formula 1 drivers have to adhere to when racing are “crystal clear” and there was no ambiguity in the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix. …
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the rules that Formula 1 drivers have to adhere to when racing are “crystal clear” and there was no ambiguity in the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris at the United States Grand Prix.
Verstappen overtook Norris at Turn 1 at the start of the race but appeared to completely leave the track on the corner exit after forcing the McLaren wide, before he again left the track defending the inside late on at Turn 12. On the second occasion, Norris went wide and rejoined ahead of Verstappen, picking up a five-second time penalty that Horner says was the obvious outcome.
“First of all, the racing between the two of them, it was competitive and great to watch and obviously all the drivers know acutely what the rules are,” Horner said. “They discuss these issues in particular corners in the briefings with the various stewards and driver stewards and race director.
“The pass was made off-track. We’ve been on the receiving end of that. In fact, here [Circuit of The Americas], I think, against Kimi [Raikkonen] in 2018. For us, it was crystal clear that the pass had been made off the track, so he should have given the place back. He chose not to, therefore there was a penalty. So for us, it was very much a black-and-white scenario.
“I think it’s very difficult for the stewards, and every incident is different so you have to look at every incident individually. When you’re on the receiving end of it, it’s not nice. As I say, we’ve been on the receiving end of it numerous times, not just at this track, but at other tracks. So, they all know what’s at stake.
“What I perhaps didn’t understand was it was clear there was going to be a penalty — or it looked pretty clear there was going to be a penalty — with the car advantage and tire advantage that McLaren had at that point of the race, it looked like he went to give the place back up at Turn 1, but there was some confusion there. If he’d have given the place back immediately, he would have probably had enough pace to make the pass [again].”
Horner said the opening-lap incident was not noted by the stewards because all teams and drivers have asked for more leniency in such situations.
“We discussed these many, many times. It goes back to Niki Lauda, making an impassioned plea to [former race director] Charlie Whiting of ‘just let them race,’” he said. “It was agreed then for the first lap, it used to be; now it is very much the first corner, let them race and that was a classic case of that. And they all know that.”
The promoter of the United States Grand Prix has been fined over $500,000 due to the number of fans invading the track before all cars had returned to the pit lane after the race. Track access is permitted at the majority of venues – including …
The promoter of the United States Grand Prix has been fined over $500,000 due to the number of fans invading the track before all cars had returned to the pit lane after the race.
Track access is permitted at the majority of venues – including Circuit of The Americas – but fans must enter through designated gates when they are opened following the end of the race. On Sunday, the FIA noted that around 200 fans made it on to the track before that time, through an area that was not significantly policed.
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“A large group of spectators, estimated at approximately 200 people, in the grandstand alongside pit straight, climbed a small fence and dropped around 2 meters to the ground between the grandstand and the track debris fencing,” a stewards’ document read.
“They then went under the debris fencing and climbed over the trackside wall (approximately 1 meter high) and then merged onto the main straight. All this occurred whilst the competing cars were still on track completing their cool down lap after the checkered flag.”
Noting that there had not been a track incursion before in the event’s 12-year history, and that the safety plan to allow fans onto the track “was actually well implemented,” the stewards found that the plan did not identify the risk that an incursion could happen where it did along the pit straight.
The promoter – Circuit of The Americas LLC – has been tasked with delivering a remediation plan by the end of this year that will also assess if there are other potential incursion areas, on top of being handed a hefty fine of €500,000 ($540,000).
€350,000 ($380,000) of the fine is suspended until the end of 2026, providing there are no further track incursions at the circuit during any FIA Championship event.
Mercedes describes its upgrade for the upcoming U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas as “a fairly substantial set of new clothes” to launch its development efforts for the final six races of the Formula 1 season. F1 is currently in the middle …
Mercedes describes its upgrade for the upcoming U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas as “a fairly substantial set of new clothes” to launch its development efforts for the final six races of the Formula 1 season.
F1 is currently in the middle of four weeks between race weekends, following the Singapore Grand Prix where Mercedes struggled for race pace and finished fourth and sixth with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively. Six races in eight weeks will then close out the season, meaning many teams are targeting COTA for a major upgrade package for that run, including Mercedes.
“We’ll be trying to figure out how to mitigate what ailed us [in Singapore], how to figure out how to make the tires run better on these sort of overheating circuits and we’ll be also doing quite a lot of work to bring our last upgrade of the season together,” technical director James Allison said.
“We’ve got a fairly substantial set of new clothes for the car coming for Austin that we hope will give us a decent weekend there. So we’ve got to deliver all that and get ourselves ready for these last few races of the year.”
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Allison is hopeful the developments will allow Mercedes to provide its drivers with a more competitive car, after Hamilton’s 350th grand prix start in Singapore ended in disappointing fashion as he faded from third on the grid in a challenging race.
“Lewis has had a career that I think won’t ever be matched by any other driver and for him to have done it all with one engine supplier, with Mercedes engines, is I think particularly remarkable,” Allison said.
“We are coming towards the end of our journey with him and almost every weekend is a milestone never to be repeated with Lewis. It’s just a shame that it happened on a weekend where the car was not more bright and my hope is that we won’t have to go too far beyond the 350th — maybe we can celebrate the 351st in greater style.”
Since the inception of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, the event’s October date has had to co-exist with the college football season – a promotional obstacle in gridiron-crazed Austin, Texas. This year, COTA is, er, tackling …
Since the inception of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas, the event’s October date has had to co-exist with the college football season — a promotional obstacle in gridiron-crazed Austin, Texas. This year, COTA is, er, tackling the challenge head on, offering a special ticket package to accommodate fans who want to want to attend both the University of Texas Longhorns college football game as well as the Formula 1 racing action and music concerts at COTA on the weekend of Oct. 18-20.
The Longhorns are taking on the University of Georgia’s Bulldogs at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin on Saturday, while COTA is set to host the F1 Sprint as well as concerts from superstars Eminem and Sting, plus a Two Friends amphitheater celebration show after the U.S. GP on Sunday. COTA’s “Split the Uprights Package” offers those whose Saturdays are purely dedicated to football an all-new Friday/Sunday combo ticket option. This new general admission Grounds Pass Friday/Sunday ticket package includes Friday’s practice round, Sprint qualifying and the Sting concert, as well as U.S. GP and post-race celebration in the Germania Insurance Amphitheater with Two Friends. The $289 package works out cheaper than purchasing two single tickets for both days together.
“There’s so much to do in Austin that weekend,” said COTA Chairman Bobby Epstein. I think October 21 should be declared a ‘day off’ holiday this year!”
Football package tickets are available by clicking HERE.
Four cars will be off the grid and starting from the pit lane during Sunday’s race.
The starting grid for the United States Grand Prix may feel a little empty on Sunday.
F1 journalist Chris Medland confirmed before the race that two teams — Aston Martin and Haas — will start from the pitlane in Austin. Medland reported that Haas is seeking to get a better setup after gathering data from Saturday’s sprint race and that Aston Martin looks to test a new upgrade spec, with driver Lance Stroll staying on the upgraded car and Fernando Alonso reverting back to older spec for the race.
On an ordinary race weekend, it’s unlikely these two teams would have taken drastic measures to test out their cars. Sprint race weekends, however, give teams an extra day of racing to monitor data like tire wear and race pace, so it’s likely that both these teams were unsatisfied with their race data and are using this grand prix as a means to collect it better regardless of where they finish.
Add both Aston Martin drivers to this too!
Team confirms Alonso will revert to Qatar spec of car and Stroll will stick with upgraded version (but change set-up) to compare the two over a race distance #F1#USGPhttps://t.co/nliUnKLZZd
Due to this change, AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo moves up to 14th place, Williams’ Alex Albon slots up to 15th and his teammate Logan Sargeant will be at the tail end of the grid in 16th. Magnussen and Hulkenberg will be first in the pit lane, while Alonso and Stroll will follow right behind them.
The United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas will take place at 3 p.m. EST.
Max Verstappen took home first in the sprint race, displaying pace that could certainly preview Sunday’s race.
It isn’t easy to win at the pinnacle of motorsport, but Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen certainly makes it seem like it.
Verstappen won the United States Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday, earning the maximum eight points available. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton overtook Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the start to earn second while Leclerc had to settle for third. Mercedes’ George Russell was issued a five-second time penalty for overtaking McLaren’s Oscar Piastri off the track, resulting in him finishing
Here’s how the cars crossed the line at the end of the race:
Verstappen won’t be on the front row for the race Sunday, but he will get the best shot to win the sprint shootout on Saturday.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wasn’t able to put it on pole Friday, but he made up for it on Saturday.
Verstappen clinched pole position for the sprint race at the United States Grand Prix during Saturday’s sprint shootout, but it wasn’t easy. Verstappen only managed to beat Sunday pole sitter Charles Leclerc by less than a hundredth of a second, and McLaren’s Lando Norris in fourth was only 0.101 seconds back from him. Mercedes’ George Russell was sent to the stewards for a possible blocking penalty on Ferrari’s Leclerc, but as of writing that situation has yet to be resolved.
Here is how the sprint shootout went on Saturday:
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (Merccedes)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
George Russell (Mercedes)
Alexander Albon (Williams)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
Logan Sargeant (Williams)
The sprint will take place on Saturday at 6 p.m. EST.
It was a strong day for the Ferraris as Charles Leclerc ended up on pole position Friday.
Formula 1 is racing in Austin, Texas, this weekend, so it’s no surprise that a state known for its ranches would see a pole position from the Prancing Horse.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc landed on pole position during Friday’s qualifying, beating out Mclaren’s Lando Norris by just over a hundredth of a second. Leclerc’s official pole position came after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a faster lap time deleted after he went off the track at turn 19.
The pole position is Leclerc’s 21st in his career, and he’ll be set on the front row in an attempt to win his sixth race. Perhaps the biggest surprise outside of the front three not featuring a Red Bull car is the struggles of Aston Martin in qualifying — drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both only qualified 19th and 17th, respectively.
Here is how qualifying for Sunday’s race shaped out:
Here’s how the first taste of on-track action in Austin went on Friday.
Formula 1 racing is back in the United States, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting sprint weekend in Austin, Texas.
F1 is at the Circuit of the Americas to race in the United States Grand Prix, and it will be yet another sprint weekend after the previous Qatar Grand Prix. This also marks the second race in which Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is the World Driver’s Champion, winning the honor during the Qatar sprint race.
As this is a sprint race weekend, this session was the only session drivers will get before qualifying later on Friday. The fastest time was set by Verstappen, putting in a best lap of 1:35.912 in 22 laps.
Here are the final standings for FP1 at the Circuit of the Americas:
If there was a headline to come out of last year’s United States Grand Prix, it was the enormous crowd that Circuit of The Americas was able to attract across the race weekend. While venues don’t report individual numbers, but rather the cumulative …
If there was a headline to come out of last year’s United States Grand Prix, it was the enormous crowd that Circuit of The Americas was able to attract across the race weekend.
While venues don’t report individual numbers, but rather the cumulative over the four days that fans are allowed into the track, COTA welcomed 440,000 people and set the record for the 2022 season.
For a race that was struggling at times to find the right funding and to pull in capacity crowds, recent events have seen the number growing year-on-year and more grandstands or general admission areas being created to ensure demand is met. But the focus on beating last year’s figure has changed in 2023, even if it’s just a slight pause on that front as attention shifts slightly.
“Actually, not bigger this time,” COTA chairman Bobby Epstein tells RACER. “This is better. Which in terms for us, putting on an event, since we have nothing to do with what goes on on the track; it’s how to get people in and out. How do you provide better food, better service, higher quality, more entertainment? and so that’s been our focus and continues to be.
“We weren’t trying to set an attendance record this year, and if we had… I think we first want to continue to focus so much on the transportation and getting people in and out. So we added another 15 loading stations for buses, which equates to 6,000 people an hour.
“If we can prove out some of the things we’re trying this year then in the future, we can go for an attendance record and beat our own attendance record.”
The landmark figure of half a million became a talking point during and after last year’s race, but even at that stage there was concern about the way the drivers’ championship had already been wrapped up less than one year after the intense interest around the 2021 battle. A similar scenario has unfolded this season with Red Bull and Max Verstappen even more dominant than 12 months ago and both titles already confirmed, but it’s not an aspect that Epstein feels has a major impact on the way COTA might look to increase capacity or sell tickets.
“Most of our tickets are sold well before the competition on the track. So it doesn’t affect much. Maybe there’s some last-minute buyers that wait for that, but most of the tickets are sold out well in advance of anyone knowing when the championship is going to be decided. It’s a nice bonus to have, but it doesn’t really affect ticket sales. It probably affects TV viewership more than it affects ticket sales.”
Another reason for the lack of dissent at the on-track fight is the focus on everything but that from the race organizers. Whether an amazing championship battle is raging or the title winner was known months ago, individual venues can do nothing about that. Instead, they can only focus on providing a fan experience that is enjoyable regardless of the show F1 itself is putting on.
“We have felt this way for years which is we have to transition to give the fans more value for their money, which means more entertainment, more to do, more hours of programming, so that if the track entertainment and the track competition isn’t great, people still want to come.
Max Verstappen’s early title triumph hasn’t put off ticket buyers. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
“What we’ve learned has worked, and we have to rely on that. So people know that if they buy a ticket here, it’s still that that represents great value. And I think when you look at the very passionate race fan who cares about one through 20 – every position down the grid – and appreciates the sort of the ferociousness of the competition, all the way through the grid, then they’re going to get their money’s worth.
“They know that at this track. This track is made for the competition and passing and it makes for great racing. And so the true racing fan that says ‘I care about all the competition’ and they’re not just looking at first place, they’re gonna love it.”
COTA has leaned into being the traditional American race, the venue that rekindled interest in F1 long before Drive to Survive hit the screens and Miami and Las Vegas were added to the schedule. But even though he feels it has an impact on COTA being slightly slower to sell out than a year ago, the latter is seen as a positive for Epstein because very different price points and audiences are being targeted, that can even amplify what Austin provides as it looks to hit those record attendance figures in future.
“I think that’s a result of Vegas coming on, and the first year phenomenon. I think there’s always the novelty of the first year and check it out, and appreciate and learn the differences.
“As with any product, you want to sell your product, and I think that competition means the fan will be the beneficiary of that.”
While Austin didn’t look to increase capacity this year, that has allowed Epstein to make a more clear-cut comparison with last year’s race regarding what does and doesn’t work. But he points out that it would be wrong to put COTA’s success down to F1 alone, as the influence of other major racing series throughout the year helps the whole circuit find a rhythm to hosting big weekends and improve what’s on offer to fans.
“Am I amazed at how much it’s grown? I think I’m relieved at the fact it’s gotten so much easier! And by virtue of having MotoGP and NASCAR throughout the year and have those big events, it’s made our team stronger. It makes it much easier for us to put on an event. If we were just doing one a year, it would be much harder than doing three in a year.
“It’s sort of re-energized some of us here, in that as it gets easier, you can add more things and that’s fun. And when you enjoy what you get to do it does give you the energy and enthusiasm.
“I’m proud that we got to this point, to where we can have fun coming to work and enjoy that, being with each other and kind of all rolling together. So that’s really the outcome of it. It just makes it rewarding and it makes you more excited for next year’s event.”
And who knows? Maybe next year’s event will be the biggest in terms of fan numbers that F1 has ever seen…
