Attending 2018 US Gran Prix?

I've been to several of them, watched from bleachers, got the GA pass and watched from the grass, watched from a spot on Haywood Hill off the track property. If you can deal with the crowds and all the non-racing stuff that goes along with a big event, it can be a fun experience. The one thing i've noticed though with F1 and MotoGP at COTA is it seems if the weather is sunny, after lap 5 you can expect the top 5-10 order to remain almost the same the rest of the race baring mechanical failures. Sure Verstappen might go off-roading to pass an unsuspecting driver and then later get penalized to add to the excitement but that's been about it lately. The year with the best race was the great flood of 2016 where the track was somewhat wet but drying at the start of the race and finally added some variability.

 

Hamilton passed Vettel in the first race with like 15 or so to go for the lead

Ham passed Nico to win several years ago later in the race when Nico ran wide in 12 or 15, I honestly don’t remember.

 

Back on topic though. I’m sure someone has and will comment about their experience seeing the race with FCA.

 

Your latter example happened the year there was bad weather all weekend which I think I stated was 2016 but might have been '15 and as mentioned was a good race due to the track conditions being variable especially at the start. If you meant to make a case with those two examples that the racing there is riveting you might have to come up with some more material than that haha. Sure there's been the dramatic moment here or there over the years but the racing as a whole? Not from what I've seen.

 

I couldn't remember if that was the wet race or not. They all kind of run together. I've found that this is the norm for most races though. Unless something happens such as a safety car or weather the races generally don't change much up front after the first few laps.

 

I did the FCA tickets in turn 12, and that is a great spot to see them coming off the long straight, braking, and then you see turns 12-15 as well. Good photography spot as well. The best seats are the highest rows, with the last row being the best, as you can lean back against the fencing on the grandstand.

I learned at Indy, that the start / finish line is not a great spot to watch the racing, with the constant head movement to see the cars. It is good for watching the pit action.

I would like to try the top of turn one sometime.

 

I bought the turn 12 FCA tickets for the first year (when I was in the FCA). That complex of turns can't be beat but, for me, being in the FCA section wasn't that big of a deal. I'm not a really social guy, though, and wasn't really chatting it up with my seatmates. Plus, from the looks of some of the people around me, I'm willing to bet a Porsche owner or two snuck into "our" section!

If you are on the social side, and attend one of the FCA get-togethers (if they still do that), then its probably worth it, as turn 12 is a great place to sit.

Typing that does remind me... In the section, a couple of rows in front of me, was a girl with Ferrari tattoos all over her back. She was covered. Her photo is here on FChat somewhere.

 

Sorry not an FCA member, don't have an answer for that, but I've heard it was a good time.

I was in the main grand stand and T1 last year, T1 is better for watching race action. If you bring binos you can see most of the track. Grandstand is good for pit action and start/finish though.