THAT’S THE TICKET
Tickets now available as Formula 1 races back into Austin’s Circuit of the Americas
Fans of motorsport are getting revved up for the Austin return of the world’s fastest and most prestigious racing series.
As of Tuesday, April 27, tickets are available for the Formula 1 Aramco 2021 United States Grand Prix, motoring to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin October 22-24.
Though COTA has hosted the annual U.S. Grand Prix since 2012 — and brings multimillions of dollars to the Austin economy — F1’s return to the popular Austin racetrack is particularly anticipated this year, with last year’s U.S. Grand Prix canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, much of the 2020 F1 season was disrupted by the pandemic, forcing the elite series to cut several races and revise its planned schedule.
For its triumphant return to Austin, a variety of tickets are available for this year’s F1 racing weekend, including those for three-day general admission (starting at $189), which gets you in door, but you’ll need a chair or blanket for settling down to catch the racing from the hillside. Also available are three-day bleacher tickets (starting at $249), with seats located at COTA’s Turns 9, 12, and 18. Three-day premium grandstand tickets (starting at $350) will score you seats in the Main Grandstand, and the three-day flex pass (starting at $450) enables ticket holders to view the racing from three different seated locations each day.
Die-hard racing fans will want to check out the Geico Camping & RV options (starting at $600), and shared and private hospitality packages are also available.
New this year: Reserved seat tickets will be offered at Turn 18 and Turn 19. New hospitality options include the Twenty12 Lounge, Podium Club, and Tower Club areas, and premium on-track viewing upgrades are available for both concert experiences.
Of course, many Austinites will be drawn to those over-the-top musical performances (more info on specifics will be released soon), and to the onsite amusement rides and local food offerings, but with the 2021 F1 season now in full petal-the-the-metal mode, local racing enthusiasts are ready for the likes of seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton — easily the fastest man in the world — to hit the road to Austin.
Though some not-entirely-unforeseen race results have played out this season, team shakeups are giving way to some interesting on-track relations. Of particular note is the F1 return of legendary driver Fernando Alonso, and the addition of Mick Schumacher (son of record-breaking F1 champ Michael Schumacher). He joins the U.S.-based Haas F1 racing team following the series retirement of Romain Grosjean, who miraculously and narrowly escaped certain death last season when his Haas car hit a wall and exploded into flames at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Whichever of the 20 teams and drivers speed into your heart, the return of F1 to the COTA marks a thrilling and historic crossroads, and is not to be missed.
