Watching F1 this weekend was more heart-warming than the average F1 race weekend I watch from home, and that’s saying something – so I wanted to pass along my F1 COTA, a weekend in Austin guide. Why? Because going to COTA last year (Circuit of the Americas), left an incredible weekend of memories imprinted in my mind with my Formula 1 group of friends. And watching it on TV after being there in person last year inspired me to write this post.
Background & where my love for Formula 1 started:
We had just went to see Ford v. Ferrari in a Dolby theater in NYC where the sound was incredible, and the movie left me feeling more elated than any movie I had seen in years. It reminded me of my love for other movies like Fast and Furious, Speed, and Italian Job as a kid – any time there was a vehicle driving fast, I enjoyed it. Shortly after watching Ford v. Ferrari, the Netflix show called Drive to Survive premiered and I was glued to the TV once again. A few months passed and I joined Evan for a Halloween party with his high school friends, many of whom I was meeting for the first time. Three guys were huddled in a corner talking F1 and seeing as how I was newer to the group, I found this an opportunity to make small talk. When they asked if my interest in F1 stemmed from Evan and I said no, the guys took me under their wing and let me join their F1 “Paddock Club” group chat. In this chat, I proceeded to text them a million questions for the next year learning everything I could about it. And boy do I love them for teaching me, and boy do they hate that I’m currently beating them in F1 Fantasy now.
Securing Tickets:
Guys- it wasn’t easy. Three out of the four of us had our laptops open during the work day trying to get tickets the second they opened. Yes, we did the research and knew we wanted to be either at Turn 1 or in the grandstands between the 12th-19th corners – but guess what? So does everyone else. After roughly 3 hours of struggling, one of us finally managed to get in the queue and secure four seats in Section 4, averaging about $730 per ticket for weekend tickets. When Evan came down to Austin with us, he felt the urge to join the core four. He managed to score tickets on Ticketmaster/Stubhub the day of to both free practice and the race for GA for about $250 and easily snuck into the grandstands with us. Am I condoning this? No. Am I saying it’s possible in all the grandstands and will be possible in future years? No. Did it work out beautifully for us? Yes. But I will say buying tickets the day of is totally possible. And the plan had always been that if he had to watch the race from General Admission anywhere on the track, that would have been great because GA all around the track has terrific views! But you do have to get there really early to get a good spot with a chair, especially by Turn 1 – but also, likely anywhere.
Finding a play to stay:
As soon as we bought the tickets, we instantly reserved a very expensive Airbnb in fear that Austin would run out of hotels/Airbnbs very quickly. About a month before the race, we realized the option we selected was grossly expensive and we canceled. Much to our surprise we had a variety of houses to choose from for our group of 7-8 people. I’d say don’t leave the choice for the last few weeks, but getting a home 7 months in advance is not necessary, or at least it wasn’t in 2022. Because our group had people coming in on various days, we stayed in Central East Austin the first night, and then in the Westgate area for the rest of the trip. WestGate was great for the weekend because it was close enough to central Austin to enjoy the city, but still further south to be closer to the race track.
Parking:
I had scoured the internet for everything I could find about transportation to F1. It seemed like everyone said driving there and out was horrible, but so was the public transportation (buses from Austin). Ultimately, we decided to rent a car to get around Austin for the weekend, and figured we’d risk the parking lot nightmares people spoke about on the track. That being said, we chose not to get a COTA overpriced parking lot ticket. We figured the better option was to park in a lot that we walked to further from the track/arena called Chris Taylor Racing. We had a relatively smooth experience with the lot, and not only was it cheaper but it did pay off time-wise. On race day we managed to get in and out of the lot pretty darn quickly since we hadn’t stayed for any races. On quali day (Saturday) after the live entertainment, getting out of the lot admittedly took a few hours. It definitely felt long, but if you go in with this expectation, park as close to the exit as possible, turn on the music, and relive the entire COTA experience in the car on the way home, you can definitely make the best of it and have a great time.
F1 COTA, a weekend in Austin Guide to race days:
Holy shit, wow. Those are the three words I’d use to describe the weekend. The group of friends I went with are huge F1 fans, but I will admit we weren’t sure whether or not we should go to Practice Day or if it would be too much for a weekend. Definitely go to Free Practice. Any extra time spent at COTA is worth it and fun. This year it was also a Sprint weekend, so even better, but even when it wasn’t, consider that the bonus is that the good bands also come on Friday. Overall – the COTA experience was absolutely fantastic. To be around 350,000+ people who love what you love and know it so well is incredible. The costumes/outfits are insane – and I have to give kudos to our group of friends who went all out (the fellas more so than me for sure).
Things I strongly recommend doing/things to keep in mind:
- Go up the Observation tower!! This was my favorite activity on the track and was surprisingly easier to get into than I thought. Going up definitely takes a while with all the stairs, but seeing the track from above was my biggest highlight and worth the relatively inexpensive price. We went up there on free practice day – I assume getting up there on race day is significantly harder.
- Stop by the beer garden. There were pinatas of every single race driver atop the garden.
- Storm the track on race day to see the trophies. Keep in mind that you do have to leave 20-30 minutes earlier from the race finish to make it around to the paddock (though this largely depends on where you are relative to the start). And everyone is going there so it’s going to be super packed.
- You won’t really know what’s happening during the race. Accept it the moment you decide to go and know the experience is worth it. Everyone around you is of course trying to figure out the race details in real time with you, but it’s not the same as hearing Martin Brundle, Crofty, Will Buxton & Laura Winter explaining the details and hearing the post-race interviews. You’re going to rewatch it when you come home and you will be o.k. Also, one of our friends gets primary access to cell towers because he’s a firefighter and he still couldn’t stream the F1 station, so I’m not sure it’s worth trying but I applaud you if you do and manage to get through.
- Look for meetups! If I had gone this year I would have done the F1Caroline meetups she was hosting.
- Worried about security? It was super easy in 2022. We may have snuck drinks into our bags.
- The merch is expensive, but it is good and a great memory.
- It’s Austin – remember it’s hot and there’s lot of sun. Wear sunscreen, definitely bring a hat and sunglasses, and stay hydrated. We all actually got a bit dizzy on day 1 – drink water!
- Tip: you can tell the drivers apart when they’re wooshing past you by looking at the tcam. The driver who finished lower in the previous year’s championship usually has a yellow tcam, and the one that finished higher has a black tcam, but this is not always the case – look them up before you get to the race track.
- Go to the concerts post race! We got to Green Day on Friday and Ed Sheeran on Saturday so we had an incredible lineup. I got separated from my friends for half the Ed Sheeran show and jammed out and danced in the field alone – the shows have a great atmosphere and surprisingly good sound. And I can’t forget to tell you that Shaq spun some tracks immediately post the trophies.
- Accept that there are lots and lots of people. This year (2023) Austin weekend attendance was up to 432,000 people. Even taking the flight back to NY the next day from the Austin airport was a scene – everyone in the airport was wearing F1 gear.
- On a personal note, Sainz is my favorite driver and he crashed in turn 1 of the race in 2022 so I didn’t get to see him drive, which was a huge disappointment but even so – COTA was worth every penny.
How to Spend a Weekend in Austin
Highlights outside of F1 COTA
While in Austin for the weekend, I of course wanted to hit up a few spots and experience Austin’s highlights. We surprisingly covered a good amount in the few days/half days we spent in Austin before/after the F1 weekend.
- BBQ – We managed to hit two BBQ spots whilst in Austin and yes they both had long lines, but both were worth it. The first spot was Cosmic Coffee + Beer Garden, which had great food and an incredible vibe. The second spot was Interstellar BBQ, which didn’t have as much of a vibe but had fantastic bbq (though I’d probably have picked other top bbq spots first – but that’s for next time!)
- Breweries – Zilker Brewing had a delicious selection of sours and merch when we went, so it was already a winner in my books & Pinthouse Brewing was huge with a nice setup.
- Bat Watching by the Congress Avenue Bridge – here’s your when, where and how. We were fine watching below the bridge, but a tour may have been a fun option.
- Austin Sign – it is what it is.
- Barton Springs – definitely check the schedules to make sure the pool isn’t closed. Because it was closed when we came, we heard you could walk and find a secret down river access to the springs, which are pretty darn cold at the end of October, but worth the experience.
- Botanical Gardens – somewhat underwhelming, but only because we’re huge botanical garden visitors so there simply isn’t anything here that blew us away, but still a nice place to walk around.
- Cathedral of Junk – we only got to see it from behind the gate. You have to call and schedule an appointment with the owner in advance of your trip. We left multiple voicemails the day before/the day of but to no avail. (totally ok with this, respect it’s this man’s home and he wants it done on his time).
- Nightlife – Rainey Street & 6th Street. Rainey Street felt like I was reliving my Syracuse college days, going from one house party to another but sadly, my understanding is that the bars are largely being closed down by new developments. I loved the casual vibes here. 6th Street was a bit too vulgar for my taste, but it’s worth walking around to see the scene – at least once. Plus our friends really enjoyed Friends Bar and stayed there all night long watching the live band.
If there are any musts for Austin next time I go (COTA related or not), feel free to share your quips & tips!
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