COTA May Add More Tickets

Circuit of The Americas track map. Image courtesy of COTA.

We've been fielding many great questions about tickets for this November's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas. Recent reports from COTA are that ticket sales have been "brisk" and we've heard stories of popular grandstands being sold out. Yesterday we received a heads up from a fan that the only available tickets were General Admission.

COTA just announced they will consider adding new grandstand sections to accommodate customer requests for three-day reserved grandstand bleacher seats. Circuit Vice President of Public and Community Relations Julie Loignon said:

We have experienced incredible demand for reserved grandstand seating tickets, and customers have quickly purchased our available inventory. As such, we are considering installing more reserved seats between Turns 9 and 10 and between Turns 11 and 12 in place of other types of seating that had been planned for those areas.  We will release more information about new grandstand inventory and when additional reserved seats might be available for purchase as soon as possible.
 
We continue to see steady sales of personal seat licenses with premium seating and on-site parking at the Circuit. We are extremely pleased with how things are going overall, since our public ticket sales began less than a week ago.

Just a reminder that you should purchase your tickets from COTA by visiting their dedicated ticket site, www.COTAUSGP.com.

Also to note, COTA will release additional information about Grand Prix transportation and travel packages, facility hours of operation, special events and entertainment, and items permitted inside the circuit in the coming weeks.

Save Your Seat In Line at COTA

Seating diagram of Main Grandstand provided by Circuit of The Americas.

This evening COTA announced a waitlist-style deposit option for "Select Seating" at the circuit, and released a seating diagram for the Main Grandstand.  Though the details provided by COTA are relatively vague as to the location of these seating options There are still many details yet to be released, but fans are able to place a deposit of $100 through the Circuit's Paypal account to reserve their position in the waitlist for these future purchase opportunities and "seating licenses."

Combined with a website redo, Seat Licensing information and FAQ can be found here at the Circuit's new website.

Detailed information about location and pricing of these seating options are not specific, and no seating chart or map has been provided but the seating diagram helps to understand the general locations and types of options available.  Additional information was provided by COTA to John Maher at the Austin American-Statesman:

The seat licenses will be for all racing events at the circuit for the next 15 years. A license does not include the price of tickets for those events. The price for the seat license varies according to the proximity to the finish line and the amenities offered.

In the main grandstand, which will have 26 rows, those amenities will include stadium seats, in-seat food and beverage service, priority on-site parking and a direct view of three big video boards. The main grandstand features a view of the start/finish line and the pit area.

There will also be select seating available at two spots that figure to provide some of the most dramatic views of the race — Turn 1, and Turns 15 and 16.

The seat license does not include the price of tickets, though from the FAQ it says it will be refunded if you decline to purchase later.  It does not indicate whether or not the $100 seat deposit purchase will eb applied towards any future monies spent with COTA.

The newest rendering from Circuit of The Americas, released Jan. 21, 2012The most interesting part of this story is the ticketing portion of the timeline which goes well into the summer of 2012.  The priority based waitlist system went active at 10:00PM January 21, 2012 and lasts until Febuary 13; after that, the website indicates, a survey will be sent out and then sales representatives will contact individuals who made deposits in order to process transactions beginning March 1, 2012.

Those fans hoping to lock in Grandstand tickets before they make travel arrangements will likely be quite frustrated as those tickets are not expected to go on sale until Summer 2012.  Details on regular grandstand tickets and general admission have not been annouced as of yet.

We will continue to update you with progress as more details are released.

// UPDATE 01

We received a more-detailed seating diagram, posted it above and updated the article to reflect this information.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines...in 380 Days!

In just 380 days the construction site behind me will host the 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

2012 Calendar Announcement from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

This news comes from the FIA World Motorsport Council, who met today in Barcelona, Spain and confirmed the 2012 Formula 1 Calendar. The F1USGP is officially set for June 17th, 2012; just 380 days from today.  Though there are many construction and logistical hurdles to be cleared, and the viability of the track depends on a pre-race inspection, it looks like work at the track will continue to progress full-speed ahead in order to meet the FIA's deadline.

In addition to setting the 2012 calendar, the WMSC voted unanimously to hold the Bahrain GP on Oct 30th this year, following an on site visit with government officials and the FIA Vice President. If you recall, this year's Bahrain GP was set for March 13, but canceled on February 21 due to political unrest in the country. According to the FIA statement, the intention of reinstating this year's race in Bahrain is to use the GP to unite the people of Bahrain, but there are still large challenges to overcome due to the political and humanitarian state there. With this announcement, there has been loud outcry from teams, drivers and F1 fans worldwide who do not agree with this decision.

The Statesman also shared that next Tuesday the Austin City Council will meet with the COTA team to discuss enrolling the City as the "local sponsoring entity" in order to support the Major Events Trust Fund.  Despite rumors and speculation by naysayers, the METF is designed to be a self-sustaining fund that is fueled by increased tax revenues from food, drink, travel and hotel sources in conjunction with major events. Thus, the Austin City Council would play a passive role in this sponsor scenario, and according to Richard Suttle, COTA's lawyer, the city will not be out of pocket for the "rolling loan" needed to kick-start the METF. You can read more at The Statesman.

Well it's no surprise that we're extremely excited about this announcement. We set up a Facebook Event: Formula One Grand Prix of the United States, so be sure to join the event and socialize with us and other fans. We'll be posting information on tickets (the #1 question today!) as soon as it is available, because we want you to join us in Austin in 2012!

You can also sign up for our newsletter for ticket information and to stay up to date on the latest news from Austin!

More detailed investigations into the effect of the Bahrain schedule addition and the City Council/METF meeting next Tuesday will follow.

View from Turn 1 - Circuit of the Americas - Picture taken April 14, 2011 - All Rights Reserved by Austin Grand Prix