USGP Tag

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

Currently the F1 community is in a holding pattern. Sitting, waiting on the deluge from Hurricane Patricia to either drown the Lone Star state or mercifully lessen just enough to squeak in qualifying. The prognosis isn’t encouraging. They just brought in the marshals and as I type we just received confirmation of yet another 30 minute rain delay. Everyone is making the best of it. The fans, God bless them are all still here, cheering, dancing, waving banners for the cameras. Two Sauber crew members rode up the pit laneRead More

Lewis Hamilton claimed top spot in final practice for the US Grand Prix with an impressive lap in extremely wet conditions to eclipse second-placed Sebastian Vettel by nine tenths of a second at a storm-lashed Circuit of the Americas. After Friday afternoon’s practice session was cancelled due to bad weather, the rain also threatened to disrupt Saturday’s running, but despite heavy rain the conditions were deemed driveable and FP3 went ahead as planned. With worse weather expected in the afternoon, the session was always going to be busy, with driversRead More

Nico Rosberg topped the opening practice session for the US Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver finished 1.2 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat in damp conditions at the Circuit of the Americas. The Russian’s Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was third, while Drivers’ Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who can wrap up a third title this weekend, was fifth behind Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz. Bad weather had been forecast for the Austin area overnight and although the rain showers had abated by the start of the weekend’s opening 90-minuteRead More