2023 US GrandPrix — COTA
The #F1 Build-Up Report — 21st October 2023
This weekend’s #Formula1 round 19 of the 43rd US GrandPrix takes us to Texas in the USA at Circuit of the America (COTA) #AustinGP, 13 miles southeast of downtown Austin. It’s also the 5th of 6 sprint weekends on the race calendar and the 2nd of 3 US visits in 2023.
Circuit Statistics
Circuit of the Americas has 2 DRS Zones and 20 turns, 11 to the left and 9 to the right. It brings deep low-speed corners at turns 1, 11 and 12. The circuit is 5.513 km long, and drivers will spend 57.83% of the lap at full throttle, with 344.7km/h top speeds. 30.90m elevation. 1.32.029 fastest lap by Valtteri Bottas in 2019.
Team Analysis
McLaren is the most improved team this year, with back-to-back double podium finishes, and are now chasing 4th in the constructors championship, having closed the gap down to 11 points behind Aston Martin.
Mercedes have brought a new floor to COTA with a high airflow to generate downforce. They will gather data to validate their W14 2024 car design and confirm whether it’s headed in the right direction. If it works, it could further strengthen their position for 2nd in the constructors championship and potentially give Lewis Hamilton a chance to overtake Redbull Sergio Perez in the second spot for the Drivers Championship.
With the 2023 constructors and drivers championships in the bag, I expect Redbull to throw everything at Sergio Perez to protect his 2nd position. Redbull have never secured a 1–2 finish in the drivers' championship before.
AlphaTauri — Ricciardo returns in place of Liam Lawson, who scored AlphaTauri’s best result this season with 9th in the Singapore Grand Prix. A shame that Liam can’t continue after a stellar performance. Some say it’s Nyck De Vries’ fault who secured a seat after a stellar performance from a single race. Unfortunately, Redbull learned its lesson not to select a driver based on a few race performances and to prioritise consistency over time. So I’m sure how Liam is supposed to demonstrate that without a seat.
It’s 17 years to the day since Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso last won his championship in 2006. Aston Martin have brought a new floor to COTA to address some of the problems they’ve encountered so far for a fighting chance to maintain or extend the current 11 points difference ahead of McLaren for 4th in the constructors championship.
Race Strategy
Starting in pole position increases winning chances at COTA. Only front row drivers have ever won COTA, and 2022 saw five different race leaders from a single race.
Tyre strategy will be C4 (soft-fastest), C3 (medium-balanced), and C2 (hardest-Long-Lasting) of the Pirelli tyre compound. It’s the same allocation as last year. Only George Russell used the C4 (soft) last year to try and secure the fastest lap.
COTA forces you to run high downforce which dramatically helps create overtaking opportunities in DRS zones. Given their new floor and recent performance from scorching hot Qatar to scorching hot Austin, Mercedes will be a team to watch. Tyre degradation will also be an issue for most teams, and I expect them to stick with the mediums and hard tyres.
COTA’s braking zones are mistake generators. Turn 1's elevation makes race cars’ rear light which can make the car float. Drivers will need to display their experience to minimise mistakes. That’s not ideal for first-timer drivers such as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri driving a Formula 1 car for the first time at the #AustinGP.
Main race lights out — Monday 23rd Oct 6.00 am AEST (Convert to local time with Simple Timezone Convert)
Pre-Race Driver Standings (Top 10)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) — 433pts (Crowned Champion)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull) — 224pts
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) — 194pts
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) — 183pts
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) — 153pts
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — 145pts
- Lando Norris (McLaren) — 136pts
- George Russell (Mercedes) — 132pts
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — 83pts
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) — 47pts
Pre-Race Constructors Standings
- Red Bull — 657pts — Crowned Champions
- Mercedes-AMG — 326pts
- Ferrari — 298pts
- Aston Martin — 230pts
- McLaren — 219pts
- Alpine — 90pts
- Williams — 23pts
- Alfa Romeo — 16pts
- Haas — 12pts
- Alpha Tauri — 5pts
