How Austin’s F1 Race Became ‘Too Cool’ For Normal Car Nuts. And How I Enjoyed It Anyway

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“Should we tell him about the backfire?” I asked my passenger as a shiny new Aston Martin inched closer to my bumper in traffic. 

Austf1 411It was Formula 1 week in Austin, and I had taken out my absolute worst garbage car son: a 1971 Volkswagen 411. It runs too rich, has a loud exhaust leak and has an ever-worsening death wobble thanks to no-longer-available bushings that are now completely worn out. Yet it also has provenance, sort of, having won both the 24 Hours of Lemons’ highest prize and the Lemons Rally last Spring. It looks cooler than I am. 

F1 week is when all the interesting cars in town come out of hiding, so I figured this was the perfect time to make sure the gas in the 411 wasn’t slowly devolving into varnish. Much like F1 week itself, daily driving a stripped-out, flame-spitting race car is the perfect distraction. 

I’ve been going to Formula 1 weekends at Circuit of the Americas since the track opened ten years ago, and not even getting surprise laid-off at the end of last month was going to keep me from enjoying this year’s event. Fortunately, the editor from my last job was fine with me keeping my press credentials for the race to pitch stories to other outlets, and a friend who was marshaling the race offered me his set of free tickets in case that fell through. 

F1car2I was far from the only one dead-set on enjoying some of the world’s coolest race cars in my home city, too. Circuit of the Americas said this year’s F1 race attracted 440,000 fans over the three-day weekend, beating the attendance record set by last year’s F1 race here. 

Austin’s F1 race has had a somewhat rocky history, so it’s a massive relief to see it thriving today. The entire idea of hosting an F1 race here of all places was initially a hard sell, as Austin hadn’t become the regular on “best places” lists that it is now. Central Texas felt like a strange fit to some for the glitz and glamor of F1, and early race weekends always seemed to leave with a question mark as to whether the next year’s race would happen. 

ThepopeA rift between the track’s founders led to lawsuits that ultimately pushed promoter Tavo Hellmund and MotoGP champion Kevin Schwantz out of the picture early on. At one point in that fight, Schwantz even found himself being asked to leave the facility he played a substantial role in designing. A rain-soaked F1 weekend in 2015 was a financial disaster for the track as it was still trying to find its footing, leading to the departure of its CEO. 

2016 was the turning point where COTA finally figured out that pairing F1 weekend with a major headlining concert was a no-brainer, especially when said headliner has appeal beyond F1’s usual fanbase. The off-track headliner that year was Taylor Swift, and I still credit the Swifties for saving our hometown grand prix. The track even lowered prices to entice the Teen Girl Squad to show up en masse, and it worked, setting a new attendance record for the track that year and making COTA seem like more of a safe bet on the F1 calendar. 

2020 was a no-show year for F1 in Austin due to the pandemic, but the wild success of “Drive to Survive” let it bounce back harder than ever. 2021 set a new attendance record, which was surpassed yet again by 2022’s numbers. It feels like my little hometown F1 race is all grown up now, and I couldn’t be happier about that. 

411 2For some, this has made Formula 1 weekend in Austin a place to be seen. For car geeks, it’s the week to drive anything cool and unusual you might have, as this is the one week where the masses in from out of town will appreciate it. The 411—as much of a beater as it is—was in its element, getting thumbs-up and honks of appreciation wherever it went, even as it was smoking and backfiring more and more out the back. It even got priority parking in front of someone else’s Lamborghini Urus—and more nods of approval from incoming vans of F1 crew members—when I went to hang out with friends downtown.

The weekend carnage total? At least two fouled spark plugs, a broken horn ground wire, a dead brake light switch and a far, far worse death wobble than before, likely thanks to hitting a sunken chunk of Burleson Road. Was it worth it? Absolutely. You cannot drive a car this loud, slow and terrible, that shoots big fireballs out the exhaust, and not have the biggest, silliest grin on your face the entire time. 

FacesLikewise, if you want to spot influencers in the wild, you can find them at F1. At the track, I’ve always considered dressing up for the race to be a fool’s errand given the fact that it’s at a 3.4-mile-long outdoor race track that takes quite some hiking to explore. This year was windy and hot, which was par for the course. I’m a bit too empathetic to chuckle too hard at anyone teetering on high heels on COTA’s crushed-granite paths—after all, COTA could use more paved paths around the track that would be friendlier to inappropriate footwear and wheelchairs alike. 

The media pass I had for the weekend gave me paparazzi-ish access to anyone fancy who might wander into the pit lane behind the garages. I spotted one non-F1 celebrity back there—Brad Pitt—but that was mainly because he had an all-blue tracksuit that made him stick out like a Smurf schlubbin’ it on laundry day, and was hard to miss. 

I didn’t spend much time there, though. The only celebrity I really cared to see was Steve DaSilva from Jalopnik, who wanted to meet up in the infield and wander around a bit. I enjoy watching some of the hustle-and-bustle around the pit garages as they get the cars ready for a session, but F1 garages are closed off from view in the back, and I wasn’t allowed into any of them for a closer look. I wasn’t on assignment to do detailed race updates or hunt down quotes as part of a motorsport-specific beat, so I almost felt like I was in the way of colleagues who were. My layoff the month before had come as a total shock, and I felt lost and superfluous enough without the front-row seat to a media pit that’s humming along just fine without me. 

SignsThe real story was of the weekend wasn’t back there, anyway. It was out in the general admission sections, where hundreds of thousands of regular fans had descended onto the track to have a proper nerd-out over one of the most entertaining races of the season. 

The need to fill seats with relatively reasonable GA tickets is no more. A three-day general admission pass started out at $159 in 2012, and the same pass purchased from COTA this year cost $300. The New York Times described this as “reasonable” in comparison to the cheapest $600 tickets for Miami’s new F1 grand prix, but that wasn’t the case for many of the locals I knew who were conspicuously absent from this year’s race. Many of my friends were simply priced out, which was part of the reason why I chose to use my media pass anyway and hand off the other spare tickets to friends. 

Fortunately, Austin F1 weekend is still one of the best places to be a car nut. It’s a crowd that often gets the various in-jokes on shirts and signs, and strikes up a conversation accordingly. The crowd was as friendly as ever, and thankfully, I didn’t notice any of the harassment that’s been an issue at other tracks this year. The most aggressive fan I encountered was actually doing the rest of us a favor by asking another fan to put their umbrella down during qualifying so more folks could see—loudly, and a little tipsy, but still politely. 

RaceI may have felt out of place in the areas limited to media, teams and VIPs, but I felt at home out in the crowd. For the most part, the post-“Drive to Survive” masses are all right—as loud and enthusiastic as the rest of us. Austin’s car culture has always felt pretty unpretentious, and these new fans fit right in.

I had a blast, but the fewer number of locals I knew at the race almost made it feel like an out-of-town grand prix. Normally, I can’t walk a couple turns without seeing someone I know. This year, most of the people I knew who went were either working in some capacity, or there as a media guest. Combined with the fact that some former GA mainstays like Turn 19—Haas Hill, once promoted as a prime GA section with free chairs for fans—now have extra suites and grandstands on top, I was left with the sinking feeling that some of F1’s bread-and-butter diehard fans are getting slowly pushed out of the event itself. 

F1carOn one hand, it makes sense for COTA to chase that bank while F1 is still riding the “Drive to Survive” wave. Yet when things were tough, my favorite event in Austin wasn’t saved by big-name firms shelling out for suites while it’s the cool thing to show off. It survived thanks to fangirls in the cheap seats. 

Even with a race itself that was well worth its weight in $15 tallboys in terms of entertainment value, I can’t help but worry about what this trend means for the long-term. After all, it’s far easier for new fans to justify checking out a race for the first time if the cheap seats are good, and tickets are actually affordable. Once they get hooked on it, well, they’ll probably be scheming ways to get into the weekend in spite of it all, too. 

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54 thoughts on “How Austin’s F1 Race Became ‘Too Cool’ For Normal Car Nuts. And How I Enjoyed It Anyway”

  1. Well I’m all for anything that brings car culture to new genres. I am very happy Austin is thriving doing so. However when I lived in Houston I visited Austin once. Way too many porkpie hats and hipster beards. And an F1 race with Taylor Swift and tens of thousands of pubescents taking selfish is my idea of hell. And I have never ever went anywhere because it was the place to be seen. However anything that brings new fans is great and I how they continue what works for them. They will probably prefer I don’t attend anyhow.

  2. As exciting to watch as an F1 race can be, I agree with those who go to the vintage races, you can walk or drive around the entire track (I had my classic Mini which made it even more fun as it’s small enough to will go down sidewalks – not that we ever did that, even by mistake)

    You also have complete access, including the pits…..and lots of interesting cars to see and noises to hear. I’ll be going back again early next year.

  3. Wow, I’m sure glad to see your name on the by-line. Welcome, welcome, welcome, Stef! Couldn’t be happier. Their loss is our gain and we definitely came out on top.

    As to COTA and F-1, covering up good GA seating with “condo’s” is really sad. I was amazed at how well the actual race went off. Very well organized in my opinion. Thanks for being our eyes!

  4. You know, I don’t give a stuff about F1, but leave it to you Steff to find a way to make me read about it. You’ve actually perfectly illustrated why I love IndyCar so much. My weekend passes for their race Road America next year cost me $123 each, and kids 16 and under are free. That includes paddock access. I’ll be taking my entire family for less than the price of one GA pass to the F1 race at COTA, and my kids will be able to meet their favorite drivers instead of being walled off from them.

  7. Great work, Steff. A very nice article on exactly what is happening in the autosport entertainment world that is equal to regular life changes today. Being, all or nothing. You either pay everything to go attend, or you sit at home and access it on any visual device through a paywall system of subscription or a pay-per-view method. It’s disheartening. The Eccelstone disease is upon us and has spread to all things.

    When I win the Powerball tomorrow I’ll restart production of type 411 bushings.

  8. My family had a VW 411 for about 10 years when I was growing up. Two things I remember about it:
    1) Our German BMW mechanic joking “You know why VW named it 411? That’s how many they sold in Germany in the first year!”
    2) The brilliant VW engineering that put the battery in the passenger compartment, exposed under the driver’s seat. Nothing like driving along and randomly receiving a jolt of sulfuric acid vapor.

    1. My favorite joke I’ve heard is that it’s called a 411 because it’s a four-door VW…11 years too late.

      My battery sits in the frunk, thank goodness. Putting a battery under the driver’s seat makes it basically a Porsche Cayenne, right? I think so. Right.

  9. Either I’m imagining things or this was first posted under Torch’s name and I was wondering how Jason got fired (by DT? Did Mercedes and Thomas plot a coup?), moved to TX and bought a trashed 411 (Ok, I’d believe the last part).

    Now it shows Stef as the author, it makes a lot more sense.

  11. And a wild Stef appears.

    I saw you somewhere or other around the track while I was on one of my many laps of the ring roads in my golf cart doing Flag Chiefs Team things.

    The crowds the last two years have been noticeably larger than in years past.

    I was the Chief Post Marshal at T18 just behind the Mullet of the Americas tower in 2016 and had the fun of keeping the Swifties off the ring road in their prom dresses and satin pumps. They were exceptionally confused by the race cars at their concert venue. I didn’t have the heart to tell them they were headed into a field full of prickle-burr plants, gopher holes, and fire ant mounds in their yards of satin and tulle.

    COTA has since spent some time and money making the concert field better. Not exactly a place for formal wear, still, but much better than it was.

    2. Elizabeth and Kevin Williams would be a treat. Honestly I’d love to see Alanis here since she is editor-extraordinaire…DT and JT are doing a great job, but let’s be honest – they’re wrenchers and writers first and foremost.

  15. Stef Schrader! And the Autopian becomes even cooler, which is really in the realm of amazing at this point. Layoffs are never fun, but it’s great to see you here! That 411 rocks – I would’ve happily hurried past any of the Astons and/or whatever I’m pretty sure was a Lambo (dude) to just geek out at it up close.

  20. I usually scroll right by the motorsports articles because I know nothing about car racing, but I’m glad I spotted Stef’s by-line, prompting me to read the whole thing. Nice article, and good to see your name again!

  22. My son and I went to the practice on Friday evening and then watched the Green Day concert afterwards. We all but missed the F1 practice because the traffic was atrocious trying to get in, the signage about who could park where was atrocious, and once I finally found the parking lot where you could park without buying an (additional, extra cost) ‘parking permit’ it was across the road off the property, more than 2 miles hike up the hill to get to the gate.
    COTA treats its GA ticket holders like garbage. It no longer feels like a welcoming place for people who want to come and check out the race cars and racing, instead catering to the super-richy-rich as a place ‘to be seen’, as you said. Ahh, well. At least the concert was good.
    As a race fan, F1 at COTA isn’t even close to worth it. By way of contrast, a couple of months ago I took my son to I37 speedway, a little dirt oval bulldozed out of a field south of San Antonio to watch some late model stock car racing. I think it was like $10 at the gate to get in, and we could sit anywhere in the stands we pleased, a stones throw from the catch fence. We were able to watch a half dozen varied racing classes roar around the track, then during intermission they rolled out an old school bus to give all the kids who cared to (For Free) a ride around a few laps of the track – they were thrilled.
    Folks, skip the F1 tickets and go give your local grass roots racetrack (drag, oval, street, whatever) some love. I promise you’ll have a much better time, and you’ll sure as hell miss them when they close.

    1. Totally agree. I do watch F1, but I’m not that into it, mostly b/c it’s so disconnected from anything that I could ever experience myself in the real world.

      It always strikes me as the ultimate collateralized automotive hustle in some ways – give us your money and we’ll let you pretend you’re part of this. It’s easier than selling somebody a Ferrari I guess.

      But the alternative track experience you cite feels more connected to the real, and it’s why I love them – they’re not carefully manicured playgrounds for the wealthy (both on and off track), but rather something tangible and dare I say even aspirational.

      I have to imagine that every Saturday night, there’s teenagers sitting in the stands of late model races at a regional tracks who think “I bet I could do this, if I worked hard, scraped up an old car, etc.” And while it’s not that easy, it is possible.

    2. Alternate option….go to COTA when SVRA comes through! In fact, I do believe that is this weekend. Vintage goodness. Trans Am series. Ticket in the gate gets you access to everything. Went a couple years back with my dad and had an absolute blast.

      1. That’s a great point, and in fairness we’ve been to the COTA facility before for other, smaller events (a rallycross race springs immediately to mind) which were very enjoyable. At that time there was also an excellent Cars and Coffee event that regularly took place at the track – I’m not sure if that is still happening. All of those experiences were several years ago now. So perhaps it isn’t COTA per se but F1 at COTA who should be the target of my ire.
        I’m a big fan of vintage racing, so I’ll have to check out the SVRA schedule – thanks!

    3. Man, grassroots stuff is some of my favorite kind of racing to watch. You can get so much closer to the cars, wander the paddock, talk to the drivers, and leave with a host of good bad ideas. I love the bus ride idea so much. I’ve seen videos of the “circuit safari” at Fuji like that, but “bus tour of race track” is a rarity in the pricey leagues.

      2. That’s better: I was a little worried yesterday. I mean, really glad to see your byline, but no Puffs was almost alarming. Hate to hear you got canned, but-how to say this-does this mean that their idiocy is our good fortune?

        Lastly, what has the building spree done for defecation comfort at your home track there? This is important, you know!

        1. I am down to write an extremely meta Puffalump Update if they’d let me. (The Puffalumps are still staring into space, and as cute as ever.)

          Sadly, I’m only here piece-by-piece. I still desperately need either a full-time job or some other means of getting a boatload of money that still lets me sleep at night. Winning Powerball ticket? An OnlyFans, but it’s just photos of mayonnaise without me in them? Some kind of technically-legal scheme that only rips off herbs? Please advise. I really do need healthcare and a 911.

          As for pooping, the temporary suites nowadays have bathrooms IN them, which are pretty nice, although one bathroom per however-many-suite-occupants makes them kind of a mid-tier option. Better than the public terlets, but not as nice as a big permanent multi-crapper option as in the Paddock Club or Media Center, or even T1 on less busy days. Turn 1 really still is the best-kept secret in motorsports defecation.

  25. Great to see another writer make their way over here! Welcome!

    As for the article, F1 sucks and Austin sucks, I don’t think you could convince me to go for free.

      1. Eh, it’s all personal choice. I did think after I posted it that it sounded more snarky than I wanted but there’s no edit button so it shall live on as posted.

        I really just don’t like motorsports, crowds or big cities. I’m a little more irritated by the F1 because of how many family members keep telling me I’ll love it if I watch it because I like cars.. like I see your logic but I’ve seen F1 and it just doesn’t interest me. Plus the cars don’t have enough rust, leaks or questionable modifications for me.

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