F1 Fanatic

This is probably something that I should have created as soon as this forum group came online, but strangely enough, the idea escaped me until today. Previously, I had been posting updates on the construction of the Circuit of the Americas in the round-up threads, but because not everybody sees those posts (and because I’m currently in the moderation queue), I decided that it might be a good idea to keep everything in the one place. However, I’m so late in the game that most of the construction has been done.

As a refresher, this is the state of circuit just over six months ago:

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/300199_223973690998805_125170184212490_613918_1805753455_n.jpg

And with just over six months to the race, this is what it look like now:

But that’s not all – here’s a selection of photos dated two days ago, starting with a close-up of the pit building:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/577519_458699627477921_157330087614878_93719821_1133087035_n.jpg

And the main grandstand:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/181477_458700297477854_157330087614878_93719835_1837826106_n.jpg

This is the retaining wall between the paddock and Turns 16-18:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/540662_458700227477861_157330087614878_93719833_1108460547_n.jpg

You can also see the test layer of asphalt at Turn 19 in the background.

For more, the Friends of Formula 1 Austin Texas Facebook group have a few galleries of construction on offer (that’s where I’m getting most of these photos), and they upload new ones fairly regularly.

I will (try to remember to) update this thread as I find new pictures and information. In the meantime, feel free to discuss away, or add anything of you own that you have found.

@prisoner-monkeys Thanks, and keep up the good work! I’m really, REALLY hoping I’m able to go to Austin this November!

I’m really, REALLY hoping I’m able to go to Austin this November!

Apparently individual tickets are going on sale soon.

Which is probably a good thing, because nobody seems to have understood how the Personal Seat Licences worked, other than that they were very expensive.

Aerial photo showing construction to date:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/551833_470206629672349_652065558_n.jpg

I’m surprised that you seem to think tarmac run-off is a new thing. Tarmac can easily be altered to be highly-abrasive, as we saw with the run-off at the Nouvelle Chicane in Monaco.

But if you look carefully, you can see that the run-off area is a slightly different colour to the actual circuit.

(no idea why they do it after a hairpin, but that’s another story)

For the same reasons why they place it on the outside of a fast corner. Remember Robert Kubica’s accident in Montreal back in 2007? If the car is out of control at the hairpin, it can dig in just as easily as if the driver lost control going around a fast corner.

And it’s not like they would dig in after missing their initial turn.

Only if you assume they’re travelling in a straight line when they go off.

Well, the run-off is tarmac here for a reason. Probably because Tavo Hellmund has said that they deliberately did the bare minimum as demanded by the regulations to increase the challenge of the circuit. The FIA may have been more willing to relax some regulations if others were tightened, so, for example, they may have been permitted to use less actual run-off if they agreed to pave all of it.

That’s only speculation on my part. I know Hellmund said they did the minimum to get a Grade-1 licence.