Attending F1 at COTA: A First Timer’s Guide

Last October my husband and I attended the 2024 F1 Grand Prix in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) raceway. It was a blast. Here’s everything we did… and things we’ll do differently next time. We hope this helps you feel confident in planning your first F1 Grand Prix trip.

Formula 1 at COTA Weekend

This weekend kicks off 2025 pre-season testing, and since it is on in the background, I thought it’d be time to finally write about our experience in October 2024 at the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix race weekend at COTA near Austin, TX.

My husband is a huge Formula 1 fan, even before the Netflix special that made it popular in the US. So last year I decided to surprise him with a trip to see his first F1 race in person, at COTA. I got as far as booking us a sweet AirBnB near the track and realized that I was way out of my depth when it came to selecting our tickets for the race weekend. So glad I stopped there because my husband picked the best seats for us, and we had a blast looking forward to going to the race together.

Prepping for the weekend I scoured the internet for blogs, Reddit posts, and suggestions of what to wear, how to plan, and what to expect. And I was surprised by how little I could find online. So here’s what I wish I would have known, starting with what to expect at COTA.

COTA: What to Expect for a Grand Prix Weekend

The Circuit of the Americas raceway itself is about 25 minutes south of Austin–and that’s without traffic. There were a ton of resources online about getting to the track from Austin (Uber vs. parking vs. taking a hotel shuttle) so I will leave that to the experts. After I found us a great AirBnB deal, we decided to avoid all of the hotel/downtown/shuttle business and opted for the autonomy of having our own car and sticking closer to the raceway. If we do this again, I’ll probably opt for the same plan, I’ll just bring more groceries to stock and use the kitchen at our AirBnB.

Parking at COTA and Amenities Nearby

We thought that we could avoid the hassle of transit by paying for decent parking and getting to the track early on Sunday (main race day) and staying nearer to the track. And after scoring a sweet AirBnB we knew we could save by not spending a ton for higher hotel prices in Austin over the F1 weekend. In planning, we thought that we’d be at COTA all day each day, and likely stay for the concerts at night. There wouldn’t be time to see much of downtown Austin. (And we’d done that before, several times).

However, once we got to COTA on Friday and appreciated the chill time to get oriented, by the time the sprint qualifier finished at 5:15 we were hot, tired, and hungry… and decided we’d rather leave the track to find a healthier/less expensive dinner outside COTA. Which meant we’d skip seeing the Sting concert.

The traffic really was pretty bad leaving COTA right after the qualifiers on Friday and Saturday, so we sat in traffic for a good 30 minutes just from our parking spot until we hit the freeway. Friday night we arrived at our AirBnB thinking we’d freshen up and run out for a quick dinner… We soon realized that there really is very little near COTA/Del Valle in the way of restaurants and things to do. So we ended up driving up to Austin both Friday and Saturday nights for dinner, just to find something that was open and healthier than a taco stand.

Selecting Parking

There are a lot of parking lots and options around the track. Since we were sitting at turn 15, we opted to purchase at a pre-paid lot near-ish to our entrance so that landed us in lot F/G. The walk each morning from our car to our seats took approximately 15 minutes, depending upon how early we arrived at the track (and how far back we were directed to park in the lot). There’s a good amount of dirt/overflow feeling parking in the F/G parking lot, so this is where we encountered our first bit of dust and grime. Keep in mind that not all parts of the event grounds are paved. Footwear is important. That being said, we would park in lot F again. The cost for prepaid parking for the whole weekend: Friday/Saturday/Sunday in Lot F was $353.

Selecting Seats at COTA

As I mentioned, I turned to my husband when it came to seat selection. The racetrack is huge–we didn’t walk around the full track, but just the walk from the main grandstand/tunnel 1 to our seats at turn 15 took well over 30-minutes–cutting through the middle of the track under turn 3 and over the grand plaza blue bridge (which was super crowded at almost all times). And as you can see from the map above, there are so many different activations around the track that can be explored–from the main concert lawn to The Ranch and The Terrace to the Grand Plaza experiences. If you want to enjoy these “extra” areas around the track plan your days accordingly. They were less busy on Friday and early mornings Sat/Sunday, but some things ran out by Saturday afternoon–like the limited edition Yeti cups. I imagine that Friday and Saturday evenings are when places like The Ranch and The Terrace were extra busy between qualifiers and the concerts on both nights.

The three most important things to help you determine where to sit would probably be: Price, Views, and Comfort.

Price: In walking around the track there were really great places you could see a lot of action in the GA seating. I would consider this in the future if I were an early riser and OK with getting to the track around sunrise–especially on race day–people started lining up at the entrances around 6:30 AM on Sunday.
Views: Without getting into the more expensive hospitality options, there’s a big range in price of tickets at every turn around the track. We selected mid-grandstand height at turn 15 because it is at the end of a long straightaway and gave us great views of a potentially-exciting passing space around the S-curve. There are a lot of places online you can scout out and sort of preview the view, but it is a bit hard to predict if you’ve never been to an F1 race before. I don’t think there were “bad” seats in the house, and you have plenty of freedom to get up, walk around and explore alternate views from GA. The only time our grandstand was completely full was during the Sprint race on Saturday and the F1 drivers parade and race on Sunday.
Comfort: From GA where you sit on the grass (unless you bring in your own lawn chair), to grandstands with no backs, to grandstands with seats, to covered/shaded seats, to fully air conditioned suites, there are so many options. Texas weather is regularly unpredictable and a day that was supposed to be mid-70s and cloudy can become 85* and sweltering or a last-minute downpour, without warning. There were several times throughout race weekend that I wished that we had paid a bit more to sit under the cover of a grandstand or at least somewhere between turns 12 and 14 so that we’d be more in the afternoon shade vs. direct sun as we were during both qualifying and the races on Sunday.

Wherever you land, you can always upgrade your weekend by paying for additional experiences at the raceway–but I will leave you with one final thought: You will not be able to escape the Texas sun if you’re seated in a non-shaded spot during the races.

Weekend Cost Breakdown

So… speaking of seat costs at a Formula 1 weekend–what is realistic to budget for a Grand Prix? We had read that merch is super expensive at the track (it is, about double what you’d pay if you order it online from the F1 Store, buy early, wear your gear to the track, everyone else is decked out), but food and drinks are going to cost you as well.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that there were several “free” things to do inside COTA! Here’s a list of things that you can enjoy for “free” as part of your race ticket.

Free activities at the Formula 1 Grand Prix at COTA

Race your own F1 car in a simulator (this was really cool, but the tech kept breaking down and so the long lines were extra long all weekend–so much so that we got to the track early on Sunday just to beat the lines and enjoy this activity. It was worth it.)
Build your own F1 Lego car thanks to Lego and MacLaren (Expect a 1+ hour wait time unless you go during a race).
See the racers up close (if you get there early) and get free merch while they’re being interviewed onstage–this took place on Sunday morning during our weekend and was a really cool experience, not something I’ve seen televised.
Play mini golf (not pictured–this was a new activity in ’24 at COTA)
See a Lucha Libre Wrestling Match (we skipped this partially due to how long it’d take in the heat to walk from turn 15 to where it was taking place)
Write letters to Daniel Ricciardo (he was let go from his team just before this race–and Austin was his favorite track–so of course fans stopped and wrote him letters of lament from COTA)!
Watch a concert at the MainStage, or one of the several smaller local bands that played throughout the weekend at smaller stages around the track
Watch far more races than just F1 — there were Porsche and Historic car races on the track throughout the weekend
Walk through a few free booths and experiences, like the MacLaren/eBay booth where there were old cars, a few games, and some facts about racing
At The Ranch (probably changes from year-to-year):
- Visit booths sponsored by various businesses, Texas towns, and make a friendship bracelet (this may have just been a ’24 thing but it was a cute idea, and free)
- Get a free manicure (the wait times were very long, so I passed)
- Watch motor cyclists ride the Globe of Death
- Throw axes
- Take a seat in the shade and listen to the cars zoom past

Here aer some photos from the experiences we walked through. There were major crowds at all times.

There were a few other free things that we opted not to mention or do–but there were also a few more activities you could pay to participate onsite. Those included specialty food/beverage pop ups (the lines for the Patron booth were always too long for me) and a build your own cowboy hat booth. But as you’ll see below, we spent plenty just on eating lunch and having beverages at the track.

Paid food and activities at the Formula 1 Grand Prix at COTA

Food was pretty expensive. We actually didn’t eat that much, but we did walk 30+ minutes a second time to go back to Rojo’s Cantina at the Main Grandstand because their el Pastor tacos were muy bueno! Basic food like a pretzel the first day by turn 15 was $14 and not very great. Most food outlet “entrees” cost closer to $22.

The interesting thing was that there were several bars near each turn, but some of the bars closer to turn 18-19 had the same drinks for $2/less than the other bars around the track! Not sure if that was a fluke, but may be worth checking out for yourself in ’25 because a craft beer was $15+ and mixed drinks started at $18–though you could upgrade to a double for $24. I’m pretty sure I even paid $15 for an iced coffee at one point.

Here’s a breakdown of our total cost for 2 people for all 3 days of the F1 Grand Prix weekend in Austin. We each had ~4 drinks/day and ate lunch at the track Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. As I mentioned above, I scored a sweet deal for our AirBnB, they’ll probably be more unless you also find a great deal like I did.

AirBnb – 2 nights: $387
Two seats for Friday, Saturday, Sunday on Turn 15: $2,229
Food and drinks at COTA x3 days: $522
Parking – 3 days reserved in lot F: $353
Gas (including to/from DFW): $90
Dinners out Friday and Saturday night: $140
Total for 2 people, 3 days at F1 at COTA: $3,372

Miscellaneous Tips for a Fun F1 Weekend

We learned a few things during our first F1 weekend that will impact how we plan for future race weekends, regardless of where we view a Grand Prix next. Here are some more elements to consider including how to pack.

You’ll be in the elements

Wear layers, pack extra sunscreen. Unless you’ve paid for higher-tier seats in air conditioned spaces, you’ll spend a lot of the race weekend outside, and F1 races aren’t short. I didn’t bring a hat one day and I went and bought one for days II and III. The mornings and evenings were cool, the afternoons, very hot.
Bring refillable water bottles. You can bring in a small backpack and empty water bottles, there are tons of water filling stations. While COTA states that no outside food is permitted, I didn’t see any bags being thoroughly checked, you may be able to bring in a few healthy snacks.
Almost all of the lines aren’t in shade. Even if your seats are shaded, walking around the track and waiting in a lot of lines is totally exposed to the elements. A hat and sunscreen and lightweight clothing was crucial for staying comfortable in the heat of the afternoon and cool of the morning/evenings.

Getting the Most Out of your F1 Weekend

The cars, especially the Masters and Porsche, but also the Formula 1 cars are LOUD. I would definitely pack earplugs next time.
Because it is so loud, and depending upon where you are at around the track, it’s hard to hear the commentary that keeps you in the loop when the cars aren’t directly in front of you. Bringing your own race radio (or picking up your free one if you’re an AmEx cardholder) was a good idea.
The Sprint Race qualifying and race itself was my favorite part of the weekend. If you can attend a Grand Prix with a Sprint race, I’d highly recommend it.
Skip Friday. We enjoyed getting to the track mid-day on Friday to get a lay of the land, watch every minute possible for the F1 practice session and sprint qualifying… But honestly, we’ll save our money and skip Friday next time. Even with as big a fan my husband is, the practice session on Friday wasn’t that exciting to watch. Saturday and Sunday were plenty of time at the track to see multiple races and explore all that the weekend had to offer.
The driver interviews were really cool. If I had realized how much free merch would be thrown out to those who arrived early, we would have definitely tried to get down to the amphitheater earlier to watch the driver interviews on Sunday morning.
AmEx was a huge sponsor and had a lot of extras around the track for AmEx cardholders, including: a bar, a couple of activities, free race radios, an exclusive entrance, and more that we probably didn’t see. We’d consider getting an AmEx again ahead of our next F1 visit, just for some of these perks.
Order your team gear/merch online and wear it proudly all race weekend long! The costs were about $70 for a hat and $100+ for team-branded shirts. I think we were two of the only people at the track not wearing our team’s gear all weekend.

COTA-Specific Tips:

There is so little to do/see and hardly anywhere to stay right near to COTA. It is probably worth it to stay closer to Austin just for proximity to more food and activity options when you’re not at the track. Camping at COTA actually seemed like a great idea if you’re up for the mobile house option!
There are many different restaurants and activities spread around the track, but not everything is paved. I was very glad to wear comfortable tennis shoes each day.
Most places designated as “bathrooms” around the track were actually just portapotties. If you’re OK with that, you’ll do well. If not, you may want to try and pick seats near the main grandstand or at turn 15. I honestly didn’t see any other real bathrooms when we wandered around the track.

In summary, attending a Grand Prix race weekend can be a lot more than just watching the F1 race. We look forward to attending our next race at another track so we can compare/contrast what the experience is like in a different city and a new race year. Mexico City is high on our list for “next” but–we’ll see where life takes us.

How about you? Where have you seen F1? Was your experience similar? Would you add any other tips? Or if you’re headed to your first race, what questions do you have? We are happy to help answer any in the comments below! It is going to be a great 2025 season!