My first Formula one USGP Austin 2019 experience
I have always been passionate about cars, circuits, speed and adrenaline which comes with racing. Watching a Formula one racing event is very different than watching a football or a cricket match. I feel — “Attending Formula one race is not a sporting event but a point where adrenaline pumps at 370 km/hour.”
The fun begins from Airport is very accurate way to put it. I took a red eye flight from Seattle to Austin. Right from the airport shuttle, lounge and to the boarding area you will find people talking about Formula one and screaming ‘Formula one’. [Hint: Wear a cap or t-shirt affiliated to a formula one team. I wore Ferrari jacket :)]
Austin circuit aka Circuit of the Americas is one of the finest racing tracks in the world! You will hear drivers mentioning about its greatness. One interesting information I found that it has adopted few things from tracks all over the world and some of the turns are replicas of other tracks. For eg. there is a turn similar to Silverstone circuit also known as Silverstone turn. With capacity of 120,000 amazing fans and being Live music capital of the world Austin makes a great Formula one destination.
Let’s go through my each day’s experience
Day 1 - I spent mine Day 1 exploring the games, buying merchandise, attending practice 1 (addiction 101) and exploring the circuit. Try to get used to with the downtown shuttle timings, food trucks you like to explore, circuit shuttles and walk to different turns and of course attended the evening concert, one of my favorite band, Imagine Dragons.
Day 2 - Kept it low profile because Day 3 is going to be a really big day. I attended fan events at amphitheater, where I got to see my favorite drivers just 10 feet away :). I watched the practice and qualifying races. [You can skip the practice race if you want.]
Day 3- Get ready early. I knew its going to be very bad traffic, so I left early from my hotel. Thankfully, I reached at the circuit right time, without wasting any time I took a shuttle to my stand i.e. Turn 9. I didn’t want to miss any action like airshow, parachute show. Some inaugural events were OK, I spent that time to grab drinks and food. Drives did a track parade on a vintage car.[don’t miss that, it is fun]. Enjoyed the main race[trust me 56 laps will just fly and you won’t leave you chair] and cheered for the team. After the race, I walked on the real formula one track! Walked through Grandstand and Paddock club and left for Seattle.
My final word, if you get an opportunity to attend a Grand prix nearby or far away, just do it. You find like minded people at the tracks, shuttle buses, food lines and everyone is talking about drivers, Turn 9, Turn 4, USGP, Canada GP, 2021 rules etc. It is just a festival of speed you have to attend it to experience it.
Leave a comment on sharing your own Formula one experience.
