Grand Prix of the Americas

Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas

How to get there

There are no direct flights to Austin, but plenty of alternatives. Perhaps the easiest is to change planes in nearby Houston, which is only a 45 minute flight away.

Where to stay

Downtown Austin is the best place to be although hotel capacity is limited. However, Taxis are plentiful so nearby alternatives such as Round Rock are perfectly workable. There is nothing adjacent to the circuit itself.

What else to do

Although a small city centre, Austin has some good night life, much of which is based around the bars and live music venues on 6th street - The Duelling Piano bar is a particular favourite venue. The event organisers also put on some good concerts and a downtown fanzone to keep everyone entertained, although this seemed to close early on the Sunday evening.

Transport to the circuit

Free shuttle busses run from both downtown and an out of town showground, and several hotels ran their own shuttles to one of these locations. In general it's well organised and takes around an hour to the circuit, although leaving on the Sunday night was a bit more painful.

Which grandstand

Lots of good views from around the circuit. We enjoyed overlooking turns 12 to 15, which had a lot of action at the end of the back straight and also a view across to the top of the pit straight.

Circuit facilities

Food was plentiful, and drinks were served both at fixed bars and by roving staff. Queueing was an issue although hopefully this will improve with experience. The merchandising area was particularly bad with queues of over an hour reported and stock in short supply.