United States GP

Look closer in the Lone Star StateLook closer in the Lone Star State

In the stateside sunshine, Fernando claimed a top-10 finish while Lance gained seven positions during the United States Grand Prix, finishing just outside of the points. Read on for full coverage of our weekend in Austin, and get the thoughts of our drivers.

Following the declaration of a heat hazard earlier this week, weather conditions were tricky at Circuit of the Americas, with temperatures higher than 30°C.
Our drivers opted for opposite strategies. From P10, Fernando began the 56-lap race on Medium tyres. Meanwhile, Lance started on the Soft compound from P19.
By the midpoint of the race, Lance was up to P12 after making a number of overtakes during the first half. Fernando was running inside the top ten and looking to claim points.
Lance made his pitstop at the end of Lap 28. He returned to the track on Medium tyres. Two laps later, Fernando came in for Softs.
When the chequered flag fell, Fernando and Lance secured P10 and P12 respectively, with a point added to our tally.
The double-header continues in Mexico City on 24-26 October. Check back here for full coverage.

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

See the Science at the Circuit of the Americas

We embark on the final quarter of the season with our second trip of the year to the US; to Austin, Texas and the mighty Circuit of the Americas, home of the United States Grand Prix. Fittingly, for one of the oldest and most venerable races on the F1 calendar, COTA is a real racers' track: fast changes of direction; wheel-to-wheel racing; overtaking opportunities – a stark contrast to last time out on the tight streets of Marina Bay.

The team comes to Austin energised by an overtaking masterclass performed by Fernando in that Singapore race, but aware that the United States Grand Prix requires a very different sort of racing. And it's a Sprint weekend, meaning setup time is limited and everyone needs to hit the ground running with big points on offer.

We also arrive with a fresh new look for Austin, with our first-ever special-edition livery, where every formula tells a story as we invite you to See the Science of F1 and explore the innovation and ingenuity of the most technologically advanced sport on Earth. Take a closer look at the livery below, and keep scrolling for everything you need to know this weekend.

Austin cranked up the heat during Saturday's sessions, resulting in tricky conditions at Circuit of the Americas. Read on for full coverage of our weekend at the United States Grand Prix, and get the thoughts of our drivers.

The weather continued to affect track conditions, with strong winds causing a 15km/h tailwind out of Turn One and temperatures reaching 35°C.
After starting the 19-lap Sprint in P6, a Turn One incident on Lap One put an end to Fernando's race.
Lance's AMR25 was also damaged on the opening lap. He was able to continue after pitting for a new front wing and fresh Mediums, but a late race incident marked the end of his race.
Between sessions, our team worked hard to repair both cars in time for Qualifying.
A Red Flag put an early pause to the first Qualifying segment, but our duo were straight back out on track once the session resumed.
Lance unfortunately had a lap time deleted, resulting in him being unable to move into Q2. A five-place grid penalty means he'll begin the Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
Fernando made it through to Q3 and secured his second top-ten start of the weekend.
Lights out for the United States Grand Prix is at 20:00 BST. Check back here for full coverage.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Circuit of the AmericasCircuit of the Americas

Sector One is one of the greatest things in racing. You go up a huge hill to start the lap, and you drop straight back down like a rollercoaster.

Jak Crawford – Aston Martin Aramco Young Driver

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
DRS

Circuit length (km)
5.513
Number of corners
20
Race distance (km)
308.405

NEED TO KNOW: UNITED STATES GP

Mastering the Circuit of the Americas

The magic of racing at the Circuit of the Americas

Strategy insights

Ultimate United States Grand Prix facts

Last time out in Austin

The essential Austin travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Mastering the Circuit of the Americas

The Circuit of the Americas is an interesting case study in that it's the rare example of a permanent racing circuit built specifically to cater for the demands of Formula One. Granted, plenty of other series race here, but the track was built to bring F1 back to the US, and it's done so to great impact, producing a race that is never, ever dull.

The track borrows some of F1's greatest hits, with an opening sector reminiscent of the high-speed, fast-change-of-direction Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel section from Silverstone, and the lap ends with a series of long loops that bear more than a passing resemblance to Hockenheim's Stadium Section. There might be a bit of Magny-Cours thrown in for good measure at the bottom of the circuit – but Turn One, the standout corner on the track, is pure, made-in-Texas, genius.

Downforce levels at COTA tend to be high but not too high. The straights are long enough that drivers like to keep straight-line speeds up to attack and defend. That has a marginally negative impact on Qualifying lap-time, but this tends to be a grand prix in which drivers have to look after their tyres, and not one where they're straining in the race for ultimate lap-time – thus the performance from a maximum downforce setup would likely go to waste, and instead everyone keeps it on the twitchy side of stable.

The magic of racing at the Circuit of the Americas

This is one of the big ones. While the other grands prix in the US tend to be about the glitz and glamour, COTA is all about the racing, which is why it draws the big crowds. COTA uses its contours well, with plenty of grandstands looking down onto the track. The loops of the final sector make each set of seats here an isthmus in the middle of the action, and there's always plenty of action to go around between T12-T20 – but the grandstands above Turn One have one of the best views in F1.

TV doesn't do Turn One justice: the rise from the grid up to the corner rivals Raidillon at Spa-Francorchamps in its gradient, but the clever thing is not the altitude but the exit: the corner is setup such that both the inside and outside lines are viable. It sees staunch defence, plenty of overtaking and more than its fair share of broken carbon fibre. The grandstand here has an excellent view of this – but looks out over other sections of track also.

The track does a good general admission ticket too, and it's worth having a wander around because there's plenty to see, with no shortage of merchandising venues and displays. There's also the COTA viewing platform for those with no fear of heights.

COTA also offers live music. In the past, the main stage on the back straight has hosted everyone on a race weekend from Taylor Swift to Elton John, by way of Queen, Green Day and, last year, Sting. This year it's mixing things up a little with Kygo bringing the electronica on Friday, Garth Brooks headlining on Saturday, and the Turnpike Troubadors delivering a slice of Americana post-race. Austin bills itself as the live music capital of the world – but you don't have to go downtown to see a show.

Strategy insights

Last year's United States Grand Prix was a straightforward affair. The majority took the Medium(C3)-Hard(C2) route, the alternative was a Hard-Medium. The two-stoppers were all lapped and confined to the final few places in the classification. Of these, Esteban Ocon was the only driver to do a stint (five laps, at the end of the race) on a Soft(C4) tyre.

The Medium-Hard strategy had a wide pit-window, with stops coming between laps 15-32. Hard starters pitted between laps 27-40 of the 56-lap race. The first five cars home, and seven of the top ten, ran the Medium-Hard strategy.

Pirelli's approach for much of 2025 has been to finesse their allocation to make the one-stop race more of a challenge. This week that is embodied by a compound bridge, with the C1, C3 and C4 on offer. This approach was tried in Belgium, but wet weather denied us a chance to see it in action.

The C1 will be a sturdy, dependable tyre, but not particularly quick, thus the choice, in theory, will be a pushing one-stop Medium-Hard race, a much more careful Medium-Soft race, or one from a variety of quicker two-stop races, with the question being whether the pace of that can overcome the 19 seconds lost in the pits and the inevitable delays caused by fighting your way back through traffic.

The best route to take is something the teams would like to figure out over the three practice sessions… except we don't have three practice sessions. Austin is a Sprint weekend, with just an hour of practice to get the car into racing trim. It's going to be an interesting weekend.

Ultimate United States Grand Prix facts

1 | Lance finished in seventh place at the 2023 United States Grand Prix after starting from the pitlane. The 13 positions he gained in that race were more than he had ever gained at any previous race in his career, only to improve it on his next US appearance when he rose 14 places from 19th on the grid to finish fifth in Las Vegas.

2 | Although Fernando is yet to win a Grand Prix in the United States, he took victory in the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona, and competed in the Indianapolis 500 in both 2017 and 2020.

3 | Fernando has more appearances at the United States Grand Prix than any other driver. This will be his 18th start.

4 | Fernando was on the podium at the inaugural Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas when he finished third in 2012

5 | Austin is one of 12 different venues to host a world championship F1 race in the United States, more than any other nation in the world,

6 | The Safety Car is seen more rarely in Austin than at most venues on the F1 calendar, with only three deployments in the last eight Grands Prix at this venue.

7 | This is the 46th World Championship United States Grand Prix. The race made its debut in 1959. It had a first hiatus between 1981-1988, a second between 1992-1999, a third between 2008-2011, and a fourth due to the global pandemic in 2020.

8 | Austin is one of 12 different venues to host a World Championship F1 race in the United States, more than any other nation in the world.

9 | The race has been held at six different circuits. Sebring in Florida held the inaugural 1959 race, followed by Riverside circuit in California the following year. It then had a residency in upstate New York at Watkins Glen until 1980. Three races were held on a street circuit in Phoenix in the late 1980s, followed by a stint on a bespoke road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, before the race found its current home at the Circuit of the Americas.

10 | The US has also hosted a string of other World Championship rounds: the United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach ran from 1976 to 1983. It overlapped with the Detroit Grand Prix which operated from 1982-1988, and the Caesars Palace Grand Prix of 1981-2. There was a Dallas Grand Prix in 1984, the Miami Grand Prix since 2022, and the Las Vegas Grand Prix since 2023. Also, while never a Formula One race, the Indy 500 was an official round of the F1 World Championship between 1950-1960.

11 | COTA is a rare track that provides lap-time comparison between the world's top racing series. The ultimate lap record does, of course, belong to F1 at 1m36.169s. The now-defunct LMP1 came in next at 1m47.052s, just ahead of IndyCar at 1m48.8953s. MotoGP is at 2m02.221s, Superbikes at 2m07.497s and NASCAR at 2m11.549s.

Last time out in Austin

COTA has produced mixed results for Aston Martin. Sebastian Vettel got us off to a good start, grabbing the final point in 2021 for 10th, after an incisive drive from 18th on the grid. 2022 looked more promising, with both drivers making it through to Q3. Seb came home P8, finishing his final United States Grand Prix in the same position he managed on debut at Indianapolis 15 years earlier – this time, however, he had to scrap to the very last corner, stealing a spot in the last few hundred metres. Meanwhile, Lance unfortunately retired.

2023 had Lance's first COTA points, with a great drive from a pit lane start to P7 at the flag. Fernando, however, had to retire his car with floor damage. Nothing quite so dramatic last year, but also nothing of note, with both drivers finishing outside the top ten, rendering 2024 our first visit to Austin in which the team hasn't come away with points.

The essential Austin travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

F1 loves Austin. It took couple of seasons for the sport and the city to get to know one another, but for the last decade it's been an event to circle in the calendar. It's late in the season, people are tired – but going to race at the Circuit of the Americas puts a smile on everyone's face.

Some of that is down to the track: it produces good races and it's an easy place to work – but a lot of it is down to the city. The unofficial motto of the Texan capital is 'Keep Austin Weird', and F1 has been incorporated into that. There are events downtown all week and a real buzz around the place.

…not that you need F1 around to have a party in Austin. The city has a thriving live music culture and every night of the week you have a choice from dozens of venues – many of which line 6th Street – offering everything from Bluegrass to Scandinavian-inspired Death Metal. That said, for a hard-working F1 garagiste, music in Austin tends to come a distant second to dinner. This is a city that's built around barbecue, and has some of the world's best smokehouses. It's not quite sawdust on the floor but the vibe is definitely trestle tables, queues out the door, eat quickly and make space for somebody else.

We're heading to Austin a week or two earlier than usual, which is a shame for the members of the paddock who like to goggle at the Halloween displays out in the suburbs, but the city itself offers the genuinely spooky sight of the world's largest urban bat colony. The (Texan) Colorado River bisects the city and under the Congress Avenue Bridge, on Lady Bird Lake, there lurks a colony of 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats. Spectators gather at dusk to watch them fly… but the best way to see them is on the water, taking-in the fabled 'bat cruise'.

Session Times

FP1

Fri17OCT

18:30-19:30 BST

Fri17OCT

22:30-23:14 BST

SPR

Sat18OCT

18:00-19:00 BST

Quali

Sat18OCT

22:00-23:00 BST

Race

Sun19OCT

20:00 BST

Innovation. Ingenuity. Inspiration.

See the Science

A special-edition livery for the United States Grand Prix. An invitation to explore the science that doesn't just make Formula One, but inspires it.

This one's for the curious

I / AM

Win the race suit

A unique PUMA race suit for a unique livery. A replica of the special-edition United States Grand Prix race suit, signed by Fernando, could be yours.

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Talking Points

Pulling 5 g at COTA

Corners you can't see, kerbs you need to kiss, and compromises you must make at the Circuit of the Americas.

GET PEDRO'S INSIGHT

Need to know

F1 Sprint explained

Get your essential guide to the fast and frantic race weekend format.

DISCOVER MORE

Look closer in the Lone Star StateLook closer in the Lone Star State

THE LATEST FROM THE TRACK

See the Science at the Circuit of the Americas

Circuit of the AmericasCircuit of the Americas

Mastering the Circuit of the Americas

The magic of racing at the Circuit of the Americas

Strategy insights

Ultimate United States Grand Prix facts

Last time out in Austin

The essential Austin travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

See the Science

Win the race suit

Pulling 5 g at COTA

F1 Sprint explained

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