xpb GP USA 2012
11/12/2012
120,000 visitors - one access road
T he GP USA in Austin could degenerate into traffic chaos. All 120,000 tickets for race day have been sold. 300,000 guests are expected in the city. There is only one access road from the highway and only 17,000 parking spaces. The safest way to get to the track on time is by helicopter - there and back for the bargain price of $ 545. The teams struggle to accommodate all of the guests in and around Austin. All hotels are fully booked, some at room rates of $ 800 a night. Some guests are moved to more distant cities and flown back and forth.
Teams argue about pit distribution
Before the first guest appearance in Austin there was a dispute between the teams. The trigger was the distribution of the pitches. 'The garages are smaller than in Melbourne,' complained a team manager. The original plan was to assign three boxes to each of the top five teams and only two to the other teams. However, the regulations state that everyone must be given the same space to work. A compromise was finally agreed. Everyone gets two and a half boxes. To this end, every third garage is divided into a front and a rear half. Well then, to good neighbors.
Texas burying 400 million US dollars
The site The Circuit of the Americas is 151 hectares (approx. 200 soccer fields). 17,000 construction workers helped to build the racetrack out of the ground within a year and a half. Private investments amount to 400 million US dollars (approx. 310 million euros). 300 permanent jobs were created by the race track. At events such as the Grand Prix, more than 3,000 helpers take care of the guests.
Austin Cup with Texas star
The winner's trophy consists of a base made of polished sterling silver, in the center of which a plaque with a star - as a symbol for Texas - is incorporated. The US colors red-white-blue can also be found on the lower part of the cup. A bowl sits enthroned on top of the trophy over five struts made of gold-trimmed aluminum. The pieces of jewelery were created by the English company 'Fox Silver', which has already won more than 600 trophies (including for F1, NASCAR, WRC)has made. In Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Korea, too, the winners received works by the British.
Austin more beautiful than Texas
In contrast to the more conservative rest of Texas, Austin is a cosmopolitan student city. Small concerts are constantly given in the many cozy bars, which is why Austin is also known as the 'world capital of live music'. Of course, there is also a large festival mile on the race weekend, where music greats such as Aerosmith, Enrique Iglesias and Flo Rida can be seen. To show how crazy the residents are, the slogan 'Keep Austin weird' has been chosen as the city's official motto. Translated, this means something like: 'Keep Austin strange'. The tourist offices advertise unofficially with the sentence: 'Come to Austin. It's so beautiful here, you don't even notice that you are in Texas.'
Formula 1 in Austin or F1 in the Silicon Hills
Austin is the capital of Texas - not the megacities of Dallas or Houston. The impressive Texas State Capitol is six meters higher than the US Capitol in Washington. Incidentally, one of the twin cities of the metropolis with 820,000 inhabitants is Koblenz. Austin is only the fourth largest city in Texas, but at least the 13th largest city in the United States - and one of the fastest growing. The University of Texas - best known for its successful football team - is also one of the largest in the United States with 50,000 students. Austin is 150 feet above sea level. Because of the accumulation of technology companies and the hilly landscape, Austin is also called 'Silicon Hills'.
Formula 1 as a game of chance
A partner of the Circuit of the Americas is the Texas Lottery. For the first Grand Prix in Austin, a scratch card with Formula 1 cars and checkered flags was designed. Tickets can be bought for five US dollars. With a little luck, the maximum price is 50,000 Sollar. The chances of at least getting your stake out are supposedly 1: 3.11. The profits from the lottery sale will go to public school projects.
Air show for the start of the race
As is customary at major sporting events in the USA, military planes will jet down the home straight shortly before the start of the race. Four fighter planes have already registered for the so-called 'flyover': a modern F-16 fighter as well as two historic P-51 Mustangs and a P-38 Lightning from the Second World War.
Pirelli moves with lasers
In order to choose the right tires for the race in Austin, Pirelli moved with modern technology. Asphalt samples were taken. The route was precisely measured. The tire engineers even determined that by laserthe exact distance and shape of the individual stones in the asphalt pavement in order to calculate the wear on the rubbers. The equation also includes the high temperatures and the high cornering speeds. In the end, Pirelli decided on the safe option. The two hardest mixtures 'medium' and 'hard' are used.
Asphalt pavement in sandwich construction
The special asphalt has little in common with the surface on public roads. It consists of a 7.8 centimeter thick base layer, which is supposed to provide vertical stability. This is followed by a five-centimeter-thick connecting layer that prevents horizontal displacement. As a conclusion, a four-centimeter-high top layer was laid on top, which should provide the tires with ideal grip. It took seven to twelve days to apply each individual layer - with 60 construction workers and four oversized asphalt machines.
Formula 1 history in Austin
As part of the Formula 1 supporting program Grand Prix, 50 historic racing cars do their laps on the track. The racers from 1966 to 1983 are intended to give the audience an impression of the 'golden era' of Formula 1. Among the GP gems are Mario Andretti's Lotus 79, who won the 1978 World Cup. Niki Lauda’s 1976 Ferrari 312-T2, with which the Austrian became vice world champion in 1976. And the Ferrari 312-T5 from Gilles Villeneuve from the 1980 season.
