F1 United States GP 2022
- Sean Suputra
- Oct 23, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 19, 2022
This marks one of the most exciting and memorable weekends I’ve ever had. It still astounds me that so many amazing people consider me their friend. Out of pure thoughtfulness and knowledge of my passion for racing, one of my newer friends in Austin invited me to join him and his partner for the 2022 Formula 1 Aramco United States Grand Prix race at the future-legendary Circuit of the Americas. It was only about a week out, so I accepted the fact that it may be unfeasible to get me a ticket so late, but all I was told was something along the lines of, “don’t worry we will figure it out.”
It’s now 1 or 2 days before the race, and suddenly, I get a picture of…TURN 13 TRACKSIDE SUITE passes?!?!
It actually knocked me off my feet and forced me to come back to reality. A genuine “pinch me, I must be dreaming” moment. To prevent this from being a huge production of a post, I’m only going to mention a few moments, but, seriously, the entire thing blew my mind. I mean, look at this...
Let’s talk about the suite at Turn 13. First of all, Turn 13 is part of a highly technical complex, starting from Turn 10 at the end of the back straight and ending with the awkward false apex at Turn 15. Throughout the sector, drivers are going to find themselves looking for grip that they’re not going to find. Turns 13 and 14 are basically combined into one motion and slightly off camber, enticing less patient competitors to get overly aggressive on the throttle and lose the rear end. I wanted to take so many more pictures, but I was too consumed in the moment and couldn’t be bothered with taking a bunch of photos. There was literally nothing but the fence between us and the track. On top of it all, there was a buffet and open bar. It was not like a dream...it was a dream.
There were so many kind and fun people. It was obvious why so many look up to Kevin and Ben. Among all the conversations and interactions, one caught me completely by surprise. Throughout the day, it was hard for me to contain my excitement about the whole day. One individual saw that passion and humbly offered me something I had a lot of trouble accepting: After vehemently, painfully, and sincerely telling him that I could not take it, I had no other choice but to accept.
An Original Track Core Test Sample from when the track was built in 2012. I somehow managed to end up with Sample 9 of 10 from Turn 6 of the Circuit of the Americas.
Basically, nothing could have gotten me more pumped up for the upcoming World Racing League race in December! Thank you so much for thinking about me, Kevin!
