COTA Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor As part of the World Motor Sport Council gathering this week, the FIA has confirmed the 2017 Formula 1 Calendar. It features some interesting changes from the provisional calendar, namely the loss of the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, which showcases the sad state of affairs F1 faces in Germany, despite the success of Mercedes and Nico Rosberg. On the happier side, the US Grand Prix is confirmed after some speculation, no doubt the awesome race in October and its attendance record helped seal thatRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The intense speculation and fear for Circuit of the Americas and the United States Grand Prix’s future after 2015’s torrential floods killed attendance and morale are history because the US GP is well and truly back. Attendance figures for last weekend’s event came to a fantastic 269,889 people for the three day event. Whether it was due to Taylor Swift’s massive Saturday night concert, the perfect weather, Haas F1, or a combination of factors, the numbers topped even the attendance of the inaugural race in AustinRead 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

In an extraordinary move of empathy, hard nosed McLaren-Honda boss Ron Dennis has reportedly blocked Red Bull Racing from securing Honda power units for 2016. Despite assurances from Christian Horner that, “quitting is not an option” Red Bull’s predicament looks even worse than the weather in Austin this weekend. After having the door shut in their face by Mercedes and then Ferrari, Ron Dennis may be putting the final nail in the coffin of F1’s youngest super power. Supplying another team with engines for next season could stretch issue plaguedRead More