Circuit
Circuit of the Americas
Austin, USA
The Circuit of the Americas borrows the character of great corners from around the world and stitches them into one demanding lap. It opens with a steep climb to a blind, tightening first corner, flows into a fast esses sequence in the spirit of the best high-speed complexes, and later stretches into a long back straight that invites overtaking under heavy braking. The variety makes it as physically demanding as it is technically rich.
As the home of grand prix racing in Austin, it has become a favourite among drivers precisely because of that mix of borrowed challenges, cheered on by large and enthusiastic crowds. The combination of elevation, rhythm and variety means a strong lap here needs a car that is good almost everywhere, not just in one discipline.
The gap, in metres
2025 Qualifying here. Each driver’s time gap converted to the distance it actually puts them behind at racing speed.
| # | Driver | Gap | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | reference | — |
| 2 | Lando Norris | +0.291 | 26.2 m |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | +0.297 | 26.7 m |
| 4 | George Russell | +0.316 | 28.4 m |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | +0.402 | 36.2 m |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | +0.574 | 51.7 m |
| 7 | Kimi Antonelli | +0.604 | 54.4 m |
| 8 | Oliver Bearman | +0.629 | 56.6 m |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | +0.640 | 57.6 m |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | +0.650 | 58.5 m |
Across the full field, Max Verstappen to Esteban Ocon covers 146.3 m.
See the full 2025 Qualifying drawn to scaleOn the radio here
1,584 messages recorded at this circuit, 2018 to 2025.
- “Another very impressive weekend, Max. Extremely well done. Enjoy the celebrations. I'll see you next year. Yeah, well done, mate. Unbelievable weekend. Really, really good. Thank you very much, everyone. And yeah, we can fly back, mate. Well done, Max. That was proper domination, what to say. You got everything this weekend. Yeah, really, really happy with that. Let's try and keep this momentum up.”Max VERSTAPPEN · 2025 Race
- “I'm just slow, I just don't have the grip when I'm close. Okay mate, I understand like the car feels right now but the paces are really strong. We're under no threats from behind, when the car gets cooler we go and get Leclerc.”Lando NORRIS · 2025 Race
- “And E3, well done, nice drive. Yeah, good job, good recovery this weekend. Yeah, it's good to be back on the podium and I think we worked really well this weekend, so... Good job. Don't worry, Charles, we'll win.”Charles LECLERC · 2025 Race
- “Let's go. Russell is within undercut range. Would you prefer to pick first onto a soft or let him go and have to pass on track? Probably go first.”Oscar PIASTRI · 2025 Race