The US Grand Prix’s rocky past and fascinating future at COTA

It’s been nearly 10 years since the 2015 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. But if I close my eyes, I can still see it.

It was Saturday — qualifying day — and my 20th birthday. I was a college student in the garage at Circuit of The Americas, with a media credential and a few professors angry I’d skipped their classes to work in the field I was studying to join. I wore rain boots up to my knees and clutched an umbrella so close to my head that I could barely see in front of me. When I did look up, I saw a smattering of fans in the stands, all peering through ponchos. The F1 cars splashed by so violently that it felt more like I was watching a water-park ride than a racetrack.

Spectators waded through mud, rain, and flooding for a dreary weekend of racing, followed by an even drearier set of headlines:

“The end of F1 in Austin? U.S. Grand Prix might not be back next year“

“Why the future of Formula One in Austin looks a little murky“

“Questions about future of Formula One’s U.S. Grand Prix as Texas cuts funds“

“U.S. Grand Prix ‘subject to agreement’ on 2016 Formula 1 calendar“

“Bernie Ecclestone casts more doubt on 2016 USGP“

That rainy day, and those headlines, feel like a lifetime ago. Yet it’s merely a blip in America’s long and rocky history with F1 riddled with safety concerns, crumbling track surfaces, entire races falling to pieces right in front of spectators’ eyes, and more. These catastrophic events happened at tracks all over the country, and they led F1 to leave the US market again, and again, and again. That rainy day in 2015 was a pivotal moment for F1 in America, and I thought it would end like all the rest: with F1 leaving us behind to try again later.

But somehow, F1 in America didn’t just survive that 2015 flood — it crawled from obscurity into the limelight, all with Circuit of The Americas at the center of it. Heading into this 2024 race weekend, F1 at COTA isn’t the same event I worried we’d lose all those years ago. 

F1 at Circuit of The Americas: The Early Years 

Circuit of The Americas sits just outside of Austin, Texas. Famous F1 track designer Hermann Tilke created the track, and it opened to the public in October 2012, when F1 champion Mario Andretti ripped the first few laps. The inaugural F1 race happened a month later and broke a five-year absence from the American market, all spurred by the…