I'm Heading to the United States Grand Prix
Austin Texas 2015
Well, I'm heading to Austin for the 2015 US Grand Prix. I've been to Austin twice before and, from an amateur photo standpoint, it's an OK track. Most of the time you're shooting thru or around fencing or you're pretty far from the track. This means you need long lenses |
Austin F1 Start Finish |
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| Downtown Austin F1 |
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| Red Bull Display - Austin |
This should be an interesting trip because I have some seats on the main grandstand that I scored from StubHub (Friday is actually pretty cheap). I've never sat in the main grandstand and I usually don't care for it because the cars go by like they're shot from a gun but, maybe, the garages will provide an opportunity for some interesting shots. I'll try to post the flavor of the city, track, and race.
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| Donuts at the track |
The Rainy, Wet and Soggy
2015 United States Grand Prix - Austin, Texas
2015 United States Grand Prix - Austin, Texas
I flew into Austin on Thursday because it was about the same price as flying into San Antonio and I figured I could get away with not having a rental car since I was staying downtown. Usually San Antonio is cheaper to fly into but, for some reason only known to the airlines and their byzantine fare structures, it wasn't the case this time around.
Now, I've been to this race twice before - the inaugural and the next. I've never stayed downtown because of the ridiculous hotel prices. I mean, prices of hotels in Singapore for their Grand Prix are CHEAPER than in Austin for this race. In retrospect, staying downtown turned out to be a brilliant decision because of the, wait for it, weather.
After checking in, looked for the FanFest downtown only to find it's been moved to what is called the "Rainey District". Ha Ha, Rainey! They must have known something.
Rainey District FanFest
Now, in years past, the FanFest was held downtown in the 6th street area and covered ten blocks. There were multiple music stages, Shell and Mobil 1 displays, Infinity had two cars mounted on dynamometers so you could "race" one another, bars and restaurants. The Rainey Street FanFest, in contrast covered about a one block square dirt (soon to be mud) lot. It had one music stage, 7-8 bars, a Texas lottery booth, a "visit Abu Dhabi" booth, and a COTA souvenir stand. I did not see any food vendors although Rainey Street itself had plenty of places to eat and drink - even a bar entirely made up of shipping containers. Disappointing to say the least. COTA claimed there was no room downtown because of construction. Contrast the Rainey District FanFest to Montreal Crescent Street:
Montreal Grand Prix - Crescent Street
Well, Friday on to the track via the shuttle buses - which cost $10 or $25 per day depending on when you purchased your ticket. Advance sale price was $10/day, on-site price was $25/day. Takes about 40-45 minutes to get to the track located near the Austin airport. Arriving for P1 was not looking good but I'm optimistic.
COTA Main Gate
I never sit in the main grandstand at an F1 race for a number of reasons. I like to take pictures and the main grandstand seats almost always mean you're looking thru fencing. The cars also flash by so fast it's hard to track them with your camera. The only saving grace is that you might get to see some pit action. However, for this race I did opt for main grandstand seating which, in retrospect, was a brilliant idea because of - the weather.
COTA Main Straight
As it turned out, P1 was the only practice that day because P2 was rained out. Oh yeah, just because you're in the main grandstand doesn't mean you don't get wet.
Waiting for P2
Woke up Saturday to a deluge of rain. TV announcement was that the track was closed and would not open until noon. Advisories were to stay off the roads due to flooding. FIA ran P3 that morning anyway - even though the track was closed. Aren't FIA the same guys who like to promote safe driving? Although, in fairness I didn't see any "BERNIE SAYS THINK BEFORE YOU DRIVE" signs. Closed also were many of the dirt parking lots because of swampy conditions. Parkers were told to go downtown and exchange their parking passes for bus wrist bands and take the buses in. I'm sure they were "happy" about that. Not surprisingly, the UT-Kansas State football game was not rained out.
I've actually worn trash bag rain gear at Monaco - in my younger days
Qualifying time was originally delayed 1/2 hour, then another. This is exactly the same pattern the airlines use when you're at the airport and your flight is delayed. They keep pushing it back in increments until it's cancelled. The FIA held true to form and ended up cancelling at 4pm.
Some of the teams tried to inject some levity into the situation by providing some low level entertainment (not Ferrari though - claimed it was beneath them to provide fan entertainment).
Team Williams - crew
I took an opportunity to enjoy some main grandstand amenities - although a 24oz beer was $12. Food was marginal. Basically glorified, overpriced snack food. If you're going to complain about prices - don't go to a Formula One race.
Velocity Lounge
Sunday - race day - was looking better. There was some rain before noon and the FIA got a chance to get qualifying in - at least Q1 and Q2. Q3 being cancelled due to track conditions deteriorating. I arrived late since I was still recovering from Saturday's soaking. Nevertheless, things were beginning to look up - scalpers were desperate to unload tickets.
Texas Cowgirl at the Grand Plaza bar
Fans started to fill in their seats but I had to feel bad for the General Admission crowd although, for the most part, they seemed to take it in stride.
Mud Man - One of my favorites
The race started at 2pm local time and Lewis Hamilton won and became this season's driving champ - mostly by cutting off Nico Rosberg at the first turn (and a late race lockup by Nico didn't help his cause) - but you already know that. Hey! Don't get mad at me, I'm a Ferrari fan. OK, so maybe it's more complicated than that - Lewis got help from Vettel too.
Track Invasion Podium Ceremony
