This past weekend COTA (The Circurt Of The Americas) hosted the 10th annual F1 Austin Grand Prix. The event has been on the Formula One calendar every year since the circuit’s opening in 2012 with the exception of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 virus. This race is only one on a calendar of over 20 different Grand Prix. So why is it such a spectacle for the sport?
Since the first race in 2012, the Austin GP has been notorious for very high attendance rates compared to some other scheduled events. This number has only grown more and more through the years. Although there are now three different races in the United States, including the Miami GP and the Las Vegas GP, which will be having its inaugural race in just short of a month. The Austin GP still is a very anticipated event.
The race this past weekend was a sprint weekend, which means there is an extra half-length race on Saturday in addition to the actual Grand Prix on Sunday. The reason for Sprint weekends is to give the drivers more chances for points as well as give the audience more racing action. The Sprint race was not exactly the most exciting since Max Verstappen, who is a three-time World Champion, is currently dominating the F1 world. Verstappen was starting on Pole (first) in the sprint race, which means there were little to no battles for first place.
The end podium results for the Sprint Race were:
Max Verstappen – P1
Lewis Hamilton – P2
Charles Leclerc – P3
Thankfully, the actual Grand Prix was more eventful. With Max starting 6th, he had multiple cars that he needed to overtake and many of them put up a good fight to keep their position, but on lap 28 out of 56, Max was able to cut past the current race leader Lando Norris to put himself on the top step. Throughout the race, three different drivers had to retire from the race due to issues with their cars. And a few short hours after the race concluded, two different drivers were disqualified because of technical infringement on their respective cars. The disqualification of these two resulted in the advancement of 1 to 2 places for each driver. Because of this, the only current American driver on the grid, Logan Sargent, who originally finished 12th, ended up getting P10 which rewards him with points. As a result, he became the first American driver since 1993 to score any points at a Formula One Grand Prix.
The final podium results were:
Max Verstappen-P1
Lando Norris-P2
Carlos Sainz-P3
Austin was the start of a triple header event, so there are still two more races on back-to-back weekends. Those Grand Prix races will be hosted in Mexico City, Mexico, on Oct. 29, following next weekend with a race in São Paulo, Brazil, on Nov. 5.
