Circuit of the Americas

The Circuit of the Americas opened in Austin in 2012 as the first purpose-built Formula 1 facility in the United States. Its layout is a deliberate anthology: the opening esses echo Silverstone's Maggotts–Becketts, turns sixteen to eighteen borrow from Istanbul Park's turn eight, and the stadium section recalls Hockenheim.

The lap begins with a steep climb to turn one — a 133-metre rise to a blind, off-camber left-hander that is one of the best overtaking spots in Formula 1. From there the circuit runs downhill through the fast esses, then into a long back straight ending in another heavy braking zone at turn twelve.

Its persistent problem is the surface. Built on shifting clay soil, the circuit has developed significant bumps that have required resurfacing more than once, and drivers regularly single it out as the roughest ride on the calendar.