Nov 2012 18

What the F1?

Posted In Cars

I’ve visited the Red Bull Museum which lets you get almost as close as sitting in the cockpit of one of these asphalt jets, but I still haven’t been to an F1 race.  And this weekend- F1 returned to the US at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.  Today’s race highlighted a technical track and some good dicing but Vettel and Hamilton ran away with it, finishing about 38 seconds ahead of 3rd place Alonso.  Vettel basically gave up the lead with a bad line into turn 1 but it also exhibited how competitive the DRS (Drag Reduction System) can make a race.  DRS allows a following car (within 1 second) to open up its rear wing to limit downforce on the (3/4 mile in Austin) straightaway to help overcome a lead car.  Looks like a fun track and it’s definitely on my bucket list, though I’d probably prefer Monaco, Catalunya (Spain), or Spa (Belgium) if I win the lotto.  Gotta try for some media passes next year!