When I originally heard that Formula 1 was coming back to the United States I got excited that someday I might be able to go to one of the races. When I learned that they would be building a state of the art track and hosting the race in Austin, Texas my excitement grew exponentially with the prospect of attending a race much sooner than I ever expected. Sure enough almost a year and a half later I was holding tickets for my fiancee and I to attend the Inaugural US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas race track.
Given that neither of us had ever been to a Formula 1 race, neither of us knew what to expect. When I had previously gone to a NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway my father and I were able to get grandstand seats that allowed us to see the entire track but given the layout and size of the Circuit of the Americas such seats did not exist. After carefully reviewing our options, we finally decided that getting general admission tickets would give us the best opportunity to explore the track and maximize our ability to take in the whole experience. Parking was also a big issue that had us very concerned but thankfully the track organized offsite parking at the Travis County Expo Center and arranged a shuttle system to ferry us to and from the race. Another pleasant surprise came about when I realized that our tickets were not only for the actual F1 race, but for each day of the three day race weekend. Given that we could not go Friday or Saturday, I was able to sell those tickets on craigslist and recoup some of the money we spent.
On the Saturday before the race I got everything laid out and prepared all our gear so that we could just wake up and take off on Sunday morning. I didn’t want to run into a situation where the parking lot was full so we left our home in San Antonio at around 4:30AM and arrived at the Travis County Expo Center at around 6AM. When we got there, we realized that the gates to the parking lot were locked and four cars were already forming a line to get in so we pulled in behind them and turned off the car as we waited for the gates to be opened. About 30 minutes later a sheriff and a handful of parking lot attendants showed up and began letting us in. We got to park in the very front row and after gathering all our stuff, we boarded our shuttle and off we went. The shuttle was nothing more than an ordinary school bus but as the sun rose and we neared the track, nothing could dampen our spirits. After a 30 minute bus ride, we were dropped off almost a mile from the entrance to the circuit forcing us to hike along a large dirt trail amidst a sea of fellow race fans. Once we made it to the gate we found ourselves in large lines waiting to cross through the final barrier between us and the United States Grand Prix!
The gates finally opened at around 7:30AM and the lines moved very quickly. Once inside, we briefly explored the merchandise trailer area before deciding that the slow moving lines to buy something were not worth the wait. We then headed to the track through the amphitheater area as several entertainment acts were beginning to vie for an audience. None of them peaked our interest much so we continued on our way until finally we stood atop a hill overlooking turns 16, 17, and 18. After a year and a half of anticipation we were finally looking out over the freshly paved racing surfaces of the Circuit of the Americas. It was an awesome moment indeed.
The racing lineup for the day included both a Porsche Cup and a Ferrari Cup race in addition the main event so we decided to head over to the hill below turn 1 to stake out a good spot to watch the beginning of the F1 race later in the day. The two spec races were fun but surprisingly, I enjoyed the Porsche race more so than the Ferrari race. I think it was because the Porsche drivers were less cautious and took much greater risks with their cars than the Ferrari drivers did, but nonetheless both races had their exciting moments. Finally it came time for the F1 cars to fire out of the pits and as they did, the crowd began to roar. The cars screamed as they accelerated out of turn 1 and every time another driver pulled onto the track the crowd grew louder. Eventually the cars lined up on the grid and the race was on. As soon as the green light came to life so did the elite field of racers. The cars passed by in a flash and were gone as quickly as they had appeared.
The entire track came alive as the field battled its way through the first lap. After ten laps below turn 1, we headed over to the grassy hill overlooking the straight just past turn 2. It offered a cool perspective of the cars as they passed and allowed us to hear more of the acceleration out of the turn than at our previous spot. Eventually we made our way over the two infield bridges, stopping for a few laps in various places to get different perspectives of the action.
Once we arrived back at the spot where we first started, I paid to go to the top of the tower that overlooked the race track so that I could get some unique shots of the race from high above. It was a cool experience and I got to see some really unique angles of everything going on around the entire circuit. Once my time was up, I made my way back down and reunited with Sarah to enjoy the closing laps of the race.
We strategically chose to watch the end of the race underneath the tower because it was one of the closest spots to the exit. Immediately after the race was over, we made our way to the exit and began our power walk back to the shuttles. The lines moved quickly and soon enough we were back at our car already reminiscing on the good times gone by. We were surprised with how smooth everything ran throughout the day and were even more shocked that we didn’t hit any traffic through Austin on our way back home. It was the perfect ending to an amazing day!