Circuit of the Americas Tag

Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by two tenths of a second to land his first US Grand Prix pole at the Circuit of the Americas, with Daniel Ricciardo taking third place. The Red Bull Racing driver will be joined on row two by team-mate Max Verstappen, while Ferrari locked out row three with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Sebastian Vettel. For the frontrunners Q1 was straightforward. Mercedes seized the initiative, with Hamilton quickly rising to P1 with a time of 1:36.296 and the four-time US Grand Prix was joinedRead More

Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in opening practice for the United States Grand Prix, running three tenths quicker than team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg. Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull. Hamilton’s best time was set on the soft tyre after both he and Rosberg spent the early part of the session on the supersoft Pirelli compound, which is making its first appearance at the US Grand Prix this weekend. Verstappen, meanwhile, set his best time on the medium tyre, which in part accounted for his being almost twoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Kimi Raikkonen discussed the layout of the Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix, and admitted the design allows for great racing. The 3.427-mile, 20-turn permanent road course has been hosting Formula 1 since 2012 and has become a favorite among teams and drivers with its steep uphill opening corner, a mix of fast-flowing corners, continuous elevation changes, long straightaways and a triple-apex right hander to go along with a few heavy braking zones. In four attempts at the Austin-based track, theRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor American Formula One fans rejoice! Recent troubles that have put the US Grand Prix’s fate at stake may have been averted by a recent settlement. According to the Austin American-Statesman, Circuit of the Americas has reached a settlement with the Travis County Central Appraisal District that has lowered the 2015 appraised value of the circuit by over $180,000,000. The move, pushed for by COTA bosses since 2014 will see the track save millions of dollars in property taxes. Enough to recoup the losses from state funding andRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas will know its fate by the end of February, according to circuit chairman Bobby Epstein. This follows news from early November that the future of the race is at stake due to issues with funding from the State of Texas. The original deal between the track and the state had annual contributions from the government coming in at $25,000,000 per year through 2022. However new leadership in the State comptroller’s office and a new formula applied toRead More

A total of 34 drivers from 11 different nations will converge this weekend on the Circuit of The Americas, near Austin, Texas, for the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Mazda Road to Indy Test. The acclaimed Mazda Road to Indy offers opportunities for talented race car drivers to graduate all the way from karting through the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires to the Verizon Indy Car Series and the Indianapolis 500. Thirteen different teamsRead More

Lewis Hamilton, basking in the moment of claiming his third world championship took a friendly jab at Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel today in the post race press conference. Hamilton talked about all the times he sat there when it was Vettel’s day and now that it was his, he was going to talk for longer than Vettel did when the German won his four world titles. It garnered laughter from the room and from Vettel, but Sebastian’s range of emotions during the Q&A showed a man quietly analyzing his season, hisRead More

Lewis Hamilton claimed his third Formula One World Championship title with victory in an incident-packed United States Grand Prix that saw the Briton’s Mercedes’ team-mate Nico Rosberg take second place ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The win, Hamilton’s 10th of the season, puts him on 327 points in the championship, 76 points ahead of nearest challenger Sebastian Vettel. With a maximum 75 points on offer from the final three rounds, Hamilton cannot be overtaken in the standings. Hamilton joins a list of three-time champions that includes Jack Brabham, Sir JackieRead More

Despite constant deluge dominating the US Grand Prix weekend so far, conditions are set to improve by the race start time of 2:00 pm today when there will only be a 15 percent chance of showers. Qualifying this morning followed the script of the weekend and thus Daniel Ricciardo and Danil Kvyat line their Red Bulls up on row two behind the all conquering Mercedes. The wet, low grip conditions allowed the down on power Red Bull chassis to shine and close the gap on the Silver Arrows. Today’s raceRead More

Nico Rosberg edged Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by a tenth of a second to claim pole position for this afternoon’s United States Grand Prix. The German took his fourth pole of the season with his Q2 time as heavy rain once again disrupted running and led to the final part of the session was cancelled. Row two of this grid at the Circuit of the Americas will be an all-Red Bull affair with Daniel Ricciardo qualifying fourth ahead of Daniil Kvyat. Q1 began with steady rain falling across the trackRead More