F1 in Austin 2018

I imagine you could find much relevant background by looking at all the similar threads for the race over the past years

 

The Four Seasons on Lake Austin is probably the nicest place to stay, and the scenery at the bar is usually outstanding. We had several f/chat meet up's there, with great success.

The Driskill is a classic old Hotel that is well maintained, and there is always the Omni downtown. If you want funky, there are a couple on South Congress with a whole different feel.

If it a University of Texas football weekend, most of the hotels may be booked already. If you mainly want to see the racing, stay in Round Rock, 15 miles north of Austin, and take the Highway 130 tollway that goes around all the Austin traffic. Some of this road is 80-85mph in spots. We got there from Round Rock in under 30 minutes on race days.

I sat in Turn 12 with the Ferrari Club of America the 3 times I went. It is the end of the long straight, and you see and hear them downshifting into the turns 12-15 complex. Good spot for photography as well. Our best year, we had the highest row in the stands ( 37 ? ), and could lean up against the fence while getting the nice breezes. Top of Turn One where you see them charging up the big hill at you, before diving back down to turn 2 is supposed to be good as well.

The Ferrari Club of America always has a nice friday night dinner, where you can meet up and show off your cars. It was at an old fort in town for a while, and now is at a good Italian restaurant on the South side of town I believe. Must be a FCA member to attend.

I have not heard of the Austin dealer doing anything special, but you can always check the Texas section as well as this F1 section to check.

For several years there was the Formula One Experience in the warehouse district downtown, and they would block off 4-6 blocks and have exhibits, music and fun hands on stuff to try. I don't know if that has continued or not.

You can stay downtown, and easily walk / Uber to great restaurants and music venues. I would imagine going to the race would work with Uber, but where they drop you off at the track may be a little bit of a hike. They do run free shuttle buses from a couple of locations around town. We always had a car, and bought the best parking we could get through FCA, and it was well worth it coming and going. There is a somewhat sneaky way to miss the traffic on the main road in by keeping on Highway 71 going east of Highway 130, and coming in from the north, not the west. There is a park on the north side of 71 where we would park several cars, and pile in the ones that had a parking pass.

Austin is a cool town, and there are a ton of good places to eat, drink, and hear some great live music. One fun spot on 6th Street is Pete's Dueling Piano Bar, with fun sing along, and they bring people up on the stage to sing too.

F1 lost me when they neutered the cars down to 14,000 revs, and the amazing sound of mad bumblebees went away. It seems to have gotten somewhat better, so I may be back at some point.

 

Austin is a nice place, it can be hot or pouring with rain and cold. Four Seasons is very nice to stay, and If you stay down town most hotels jack the prices astronomically... Driskil bar is really cool... that is our hang out in the evening.

At the track - we've done the hire car thing.. but the best is to do the shuttle bus from down town. they drop you right off close in vs. the parking areas. if you do UBER they can drop you right at the front straight. if money is not a huge issue - I recommend the paddock Club... besides great access to the paddock , the view is really good and you can see the start at the open section that looks out over the front hill turn 1.

You can chopper in as well, but its a hike to the heli pad, so you need a golf cart for someone to get you. they run a shuttle van from paddock to heliport takes about 7 min. you can chopper in from National bank building in down town as well...

 

1) What is a good hotel to stay in?

Sorry can't help, I always stay with friends in Round Rock or Pflugerville when I go to Austin. (Funny side note about that, two different friends that didn't know each other, both from Portland moved to within 5 minutes of each other in Texas randomly within a year of each other) Its a fun area with pretty direct access to the track and you skip most of the Austin traffic.

2) What tickets/sections is recommended?

Main grandstand is awesome for the start/finish, and there are screens on the garage building to watch the race, but you can't see anything other than the main straight. T1 hill is good, you can see start/finish, race into T1 and down through the esses, and some of the back straight into 12-15. You can go to any GA section with any ticket so walking around the track gives you lots of good vantage points. If you were going to just get one ticket and stay there, I'd suggest T12 grandstands

3) Any events outside COTA that you enjoy? (automotive or non-auto activities alike)

6th street in Austin is always a party. There are also private parties/events all over the city all week.

4) Does the Austin Ferrari dealership offer any perks to owners? (unfortunately, I only have a relationship with Silicon Valley Ferrari)

Not sure, sorry

5) Is taking Uber/Lyft okay? (or should I use public transport/rent a car?)

Uber/lyft drop off is a nice long walk away from the track, across the Circuit of the Americas blvd and down a long path. They do offer bike carriage rides for like $10 though. One guy had his decked out as a pirate ship last year it was kind of cool, some of them go all out on decorations and play music. I'll be getting a parking pass and parking a lot closer this year though.

6) Anything you could think that could help this noob.

Check out as much of the "fan experiences" as you can. The teams and F1 do stuff on the stage all weekend, lots of interviews and drivers signing stuff.