Recap: My Experience at the 2023 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
While this was only my second Formula 1 Grand Prix attendance, I’m starting to feel like every Grand Prix experience is its own animal. Unlike our first one in Montreal, my sister and I decided to take in every single GP and para-GP experience for this one that we could. As my participation was a last-minute decision, my sister did much of the heavy lifting when it came to the itinerary. All in all, we had an absolute BLAST and met some really neat people along the way.
If you’re reading this and considering attending a race, I’m including prices for practicality’s sake. Could you save more by doing things a different way? Are you more comfortable upgrading? Up to you.
This is how we rolled.
Timing of decisions:
The earlier the better. I was debating between attending a preaching conference in Nashville around the same weekend or attending this race, and after some uncanny conversations and random dreams, race weekend seemed like a more worthwhile investment, and actually slightly less expensive (travel and lodging-wise).
By mid-September, I purchased a 3-day package through F1 Experiences for Turn 12 UPPER (all that was left at the time for a 3-day option was Turn 12 Upper or Turn 19)
I ended up in row 21, which still had great views of the track and the overtakes since it’s right on a DRS zone and right before, well, turn 12. There was a big screen to watch the race from too, though you couldn’t hear the announcers at all.
This package also included a pit-lane walk on Thursday afternoon followed by a track tour on a truck bed and a 2-minute guest appearance from one driver (Esteban Ocon) and another F1 color commentator.
What made this F1 Experience pit walk thing awkward was that, if you arrived at COTA 1-2 hours ahead of the start time, you could walk the pit lane for free and catch a lot of action like pit stop practice and drivers speaking with team members. By the time our F1 Experiences event started, many of the garages had closed up for the day and the ones still open had the cars mostly disassembled. A few lucky fans were pulled from the crowd to take closer pictures with those F1 carcasses. As you can see from this photo, I wasn’t one of them lol.
F1 Experiences package total with refundable booking option: $1500 (but you get a $50 credit toward a purchase of another experience, so we decided to buy a ticket to the Haas Hangout)
Like we did for Montreal, you can purchase single day options or multi-day options without the “experiences,” which I think is a better bet moving forward. There are also hospitality options that offer covered seating, which can come in handy on very sunny days. Cuz that sun on Friday and Saturday was absolutely BRUTAL. So much so I ended up not watching the free practices and Sprint race qualifier from the grandstands.
Haas Hangout
A night to see Geunther, Kevin, and Nico (who honestly has the funniest personality on the track compared to any other driver. He needs to start placing higher so we can hear more from him) chat with the MC for about 3 minutes each.
That’s it. That’s the experience. Some hors d’ouvres . Some desserts. Drinks. And a Haas bucket hat. Cherry on the top was an extremely drunken rowdy table that was so loud, you actually couldn’t hear what anyone on stage was saying, and no one at the event asked them to pipe down.
No “gift” you receive is signed by any of them.
Overall this is a very missable event not worth the coins. But I am glad to have learned how funny Nico is.
Experience total: $400
FYI, here’s where not to sit
From discussions with other attendees, avoid Turn 19. The track has some elevation, and turn 19 is a high point, which means you can see a lot of the track, but the track is pretty far away.
But what did we do all day?
We spent pretty much all day at COTA from Friday to Sunday.
We planned to arrive at the Amphitheater 1-1.5 hours ahead of the Driver Engagements (if you watch Drive to Survive, that’s where you see the drivers on stage talking to crowds of people). What helped pass the time was having conversations with the peeps around us also spending a lot of money to be there.
We watched some of the F1 Academy races in the amphitheater too, since it was way too hot to watch them from the grandstands, sorry to them and myself. But we managed to snag a selfie with the inaugural F1 Academy Champion Marta Garcia and her fellow driver Chloe Chong!
This was in a tunnel leading to the crowds waiting for the F1 drivers to exit the paddocks. The rise in F1 Academy’s fame and reach might mean this was our last chance being able to meet these girls like this!
COTA had excellent food options, I felt like I was at the festivals we have in New Orleans. My favorite was All Pro Smoke Show. Everything they made was fantastic.
Smoked duck carnitas. We ate like kings (and spent like kings).
How did we get there?
We purchased access to the F1 Shuttle through COTA and I highly recommend this option if you don’t secure transportation through F1 Experiences. Of course, if you’re a local and familiar with getting around, you can use whatever means you think works best. But as for me and my sister, the shuttle was the way to go! Our hotel was in downtown Austin, so we Ubered from our hotel to the downtown pickup location. We never spent more than 5 minutes in line downtown. When leaving COTA, there was more congestion, but we didn’t wait longer than 20 minutes before we were on a shuttle on our way back downtown. The rides themselves were about 30-45 minutes max because of the bus lanes leading to COTA. And the buses were NICE. So if you’re bougie like we are, I’d still recommend them.
You may be tempted to try to Uber. We heard from other friendly attendees that, while there’s a drop-off area away from the track for Ubers that then utilizes a shuttle to the track, you’ll still be stuck in traffic around COTA for hours, in your Uber. It’s just not worth it.
Where did we stay?
The Fairmont
You may run into some famous F1 faces and maybe a couple drivers staying at The Fairmont.
We upgraded to the Gold Experience, which offers access to a spacious, top-floor lounge that serves breakfast, snacks, canapés, and desserts throughout the day. This came in super clutch for very early morning starts. One of which was Race Day.
Poolside at the Fairmont
3 night stay: $3200
Hotel Vanzandt
The premium at the Fairmont for Race Day night was just… massive. So we checked out race day morning, stored our bags with the Gold Lounge concierge, and checked into the Vandzandt after we came back from the Race.
Here, while hanging in the lobby, I saw tons of peeps with their garage and paddock club lanyards moseying about.
Cost: $700/night
Where did we eat?
Wednesday: Dinner at Ciclo; Drinks at Goldie’s
Thursday: Late dinner at Luties, then my sister attended an event hosted by Sports Illustrated that night
Friday: Hass Hangout
Saturday: Drinks at Zanzibar (an affiliate event was happening at the same time and apparently we just missed a couple driver appearances at it); Dinner at Ciclo (spotted: the Wolffs on the patio)
Sunday: Peacock Mediterranean at Austin Proper
What else did we get into?
We flew in Wednesday and attended an event hosted by Aston Martin and UT consisting of panel discussions about increasing diversity in STEM. We felt like (and probably were) the oldest ones in the audience, but hearing from people ridiculously experienced in their craft and leadership while we are already in our professional niches proved it to be a very invaluable experience overall.
Make A Mark Aston Martin Event featuring Dr. Obianuju Okafor and Chaundra Tatum
On Race Day night (is that what it’s called?), we went to Mayfair to see the Chainsmokers. One of the cool people we met at our hotel was Barbie, a fabulous mocha doc and F1 fan. She invited us to join her in VIP and a time was had.
We attempted to attend a Williams Fanzone event but it was at capacity way before the event even started, so we were unable to get into the building. Strangely, Enchante (Daniel Ricciardo’s clothing brand) had a pop up that was in the middle of the day Friday, so we were unable to attend it since we were already at the track.
Final Recs?
Plan early; buy your tickets as early as you can. Try getting them from F1 or COTA before trying third party resales. Google the view from the seats. Lots of fans write blogs like this or post videos on YouTube.
Buy a seat cushion if you’re in the grandstands or you’ll be sitting on metal benches for hours
WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES! You may walk 15,000 steps at least because the place is MASSIVE. I saw a few unfortunate souls that thought their 3-inch Dolce Vita boots were a good idea when they were getting ready, only to find out how wrong they were when they got to parc ferme.
I ended up buying an Aston Martin umbrella to use while I wasn’t in the grandstands because the sun was so unbearable. Consider bringing your own umbrella to save a lot of money. Even a small one is better than nothing. But you cannot use it during any of the races.
Consider day-of hospitality options (like Club SI) so you’ll always have somewhere to sit (with shade) during downtime (we passed on this low key bridge between Grandstands and Champions Club, but might try Champions Club before making the leap to Paddock Club) but search for online reviews before booking. Reddit was super helpful.
Have you been to the USGP? What was your experience like?
In love and veritas,
Chioma