Austin

The Circuit of the Americas is a 5.513 km, 20-corner circuit just outside Austin, and a lap is a mix of borrowed ideas. Turn 1 is a blind, uphill climb of more than 11% to the highest point of the circuit, where the field funnels into a tight left-hander. Turns 3 to 6 are modelled on Silverstone's Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel sequence, and a back straight of about 1 km ends in a hairpin that is the circuit's biggest overtaking chance.

The circuit is known for its bumps, and the constant direction changes in the Esses punish cars that cannot rotate quickly. Tyre wear and setup are a balancing act, because the same car must be stable through the fast sweepers and still brake well into the slow corners at the end of the straights.

COTA was designed by Tavo Hellmund, Kevin Schwantz and Hermann Tilke and built on roughly 890 acres east of Austin. It opened on 21 October 2012, and the first United States Grand Prix there drew 117,429 spectators. Lewis Hamilton won that race for McLaren, and the 77 m observation tower has since become the venue's landmark.

Hamilton won five of the first six races there, with Sebastian Vettel taking 2013, and Kimi Räikkönen won for Ferrari in 2018 and Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes in 2019. The 2020 race was cancelled because of the pandemic. Max Verstappen has won four times since 2021.

The 2023 race ended in controversy when Lewis Hamilton (second) and Charles Leclerc (sixth) were disqualified after the race for excessive plank wear, leaving Verstappen's win intact. Leclerc won in 2024 and Verstappen in 2025. The 2026 race is scheduled for 25 October.