Circuit of the Americas will be “old-school” track

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August 23, 2011 at 8:13 am by
58 comments

They may not have laid the tarmac at America’s newest F1 venue yet – but that didn’t stop Red Bull getting an early lap in on the new track.

David Coulthard drove the team’s show car at the home of the 2012 United States Grand Prix, which is in the early stages of construction, last weekend.

“It’s certainly a circuit the drivers are going to enjoy,” said Coulthard, “there’s a lot of elevation change here.”

Race promoter Tavo Hellmund said he wants the track to have ‘old school’ appeal:

“We’re going to be able to accomplish building the closest thing to a traditional, old school Grand Prix track from the fifties and sixties – with the elevation, with the fast corners, with the technical corners.

“Unfortunately we have a lot of FIA requirements that are safety requirements, but I think that’s the one thing, the one characteristic that all the drivers and all the riders are going to come here and say, ‘man, that’s an old school-type track.”

Here’s video of Coulthard driving around the site, plus an interview with him and Hellmund:

Video: Red Bull explore the Circuit of the Americas

Images: Red Bull explore the Circuit of the Americas

Thanks to Dan Selby for editing the video

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Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Read more: 2012 F1 season | Circuit of the Americas

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58 comments on Circuit of the Americas will be “old-school” track

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  1. Avatar Image

    David B (@david-b) said on 23rd August 2011, 8:18

    I appears to be great, at least from the drawings…
    The series of curves after the first one is a sort of Suzuka’s Esses sequence. There is also some heavy braking zones, a multiple apex sequence and great gradients.
    Really looking forward having a look at it.
    Welcome Austin!

    (Does it take that much to draw an interesting lay-out, Hermann???)

    Reply
  2. Avatar Image

    David B (@david-b) said on 23rd August 2011, 8:20

    I meant “It appears to be great…”

    Reply

  3. FlyingLobster27 said on 23rd August 2011, 8:21

    Fantastic photos of an extremely unusual sight: an F1 car on gravel!
    The words ‘Pikes Peak’ come to mind, but no: the last gravel sections will be paved by next year (at Pikes Peak, that is, although the comment also applies to Austin…).

    Reply
  4. Avatar Image

    BasCB (@bascb) said on 23rd August 2011, 8:57

    And after that Red Bull set off to give Tom Cruise a 24 lap ride. Looks like at least one team is getting into promoting F1 in the US.

    Let them get together with the Bavaria city racing people and get some kind of event up for next year as well. If it works in Rotterdam, now Moscow and even Dublin, it should be a miracle in the US. No trouble to get Indy car guys (Lotus can call on 2-3 alone) as well as some Nascar ppl into that.

    Lets hope this picks up pace and we will be seeing the likes of DC, JB, Aussiegrit, SV and Lewis on TV shows soon to tell how much they are looking forward to it. And certainly Perez can hop in to tell all about how exited he is.

    Reply

  5. Rob2 said on 23rd August 2011, 9:41

    Is it just me or did that F1 car not sound like an F1 car?

    Reply

  6. Julian said on 23rd August 2011, 9:42

    Did anyone else watch the video using headphones and turn up the volume at 0:35 cos DC was talking too soft only to have their ears blown out from the engine straight after???

    Reply

  7. carldec said on 23rd August 2011, 9:58

    My wife and I really enjoyed seeing the car at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum on Saturday. There was a pretty good crowd around the car the whole time we were there.

    I spent a lot of time with a local tv reporter, bringing him up to speed on the features of the car. I also got to meet guy that owns land right next to the track and has invited us out to take a tour.

    The Red Bull car is a real hodge podge… 2005 chassis with a 2007 engine and 2009 rear wing and 2010 front wing. But great to be able to see Red Bull doing a little promotion in Austin none the less.

    Reply

  8. wasiF1 said on 23rd August 2011, 10:07

    We are not that very days far when Bernie will say why not add a piece of dirt track in the middle of a F1 race track.

    Reply
  9. Avatar Image

    DavidS (@davids) said on 23rd August 2011, 11:49

    A Tilke designed track currently under construction is definitely a “new school” track.
    Even if it is a good track, it’s not old school.

    Reply

  10. PT said on 23rd August 2011, 12:56

    Great to see the F1 show car run on dirt. Bet no one has tried that before. An old school track is what we want. Glad that Tilke was able to do something like that. Now let’s hope it really lives up to its expectations. Seems like the Indian track will also be somewhat old school, thanks to the undulations.

    Reply

    • TommyC said on 24th August 2011, 2:31

      Now all red bull will need to do is run one on water! They’ve covered snow, ice and now dirt (and of course tarmac…).

      Reply

  11. driftin said on 23rd August 2011, 13:18

    I can’t wait to watch the cut up highlights of the US GP on BBC2 at 11pm next year!

    Reply
  12. Avatar Image

    raymondu999 (@raymondu999) said on 23rd August 2011, 13:19

    Given that the circuit tarmac isn’t even down I don’t think Red Bull will gain from this. I remember last year they were the first to go through the Yeong-Am circuit too. Has anyone gone through the Indian Jaypee circuit already yet?

    Reply

  13. tharris19 said on 23rd August 2011, 13:21

    I’m looking forward to the race. I hope I can get tickets and get it into my head it’s ok to go back to Texas.

    Reply

  14. Becken said on 23rd August 2011, 13:34

    I cant believe FIA allowed Red Bull to run on this track.

    Surely, they will have a BIG advantage next year on this GP…

    Reply
  15. Avatar Image

    HounslowBusGarage (@hounslowbusgarage) said on 23rd August 2011, 13:56

    Elevation changes look bigger than I expected – good!

    Reply
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