Tyre preview: COTA introduces fake gravel for this weekend

Following the long four-week break from the Singapore F1 race, the field now moves to North America this weekend with the Circuit of the Americas set to host the United States Grand Prix, Round 19 of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo delivers his tyre preview.

This year’s United States Grand Prix, the first leg of an all-American triple-header also sees changes to the track at the Circuit of the Americas as much of it has been resurfaced, completing the work begun two years ago.

This includes the sections between turns 9 and 12 and 16 and 3, which thus includes the two longest straights where DRS can be used. The abrasiveness of the track could therefore have changed since last year, given that a new layer of bitumen is usually smoother than an old track surface. This adds to the importance of acquiring as much data as possible during the one and only hour of free practice, early on Friday afternoon as the Sprint format returns for the Austin weekend.

Other changes include the use of fake gravel for the run-off areas at some corners, as already seen at other tracks, Zandvoort for example. This has been done to alleviate the controversy that can arise over exceeding track limits, without the problem of real gravel being thrown onto the track. The new surface should also have dealt with the problem of the small bumps that have developed on the racing line at some points over the years, which made life hard for the drivers and upset the car’s handling.

The dry weather compounds chosen are the same as those used for the past two editions of the Austin round, namely the C2 as Hard, the C3 as Medium and the C4 as Soft.

The Circuit of the Americas was designed by Hermann Tilke, and the track takes its inspiration from some of the most demanding and much loved tracks such as Silverstone and Suzuka (turns 3 to 6), Hockenheim (a sort of Motodrom from 12 to 15) and the section from 16 to 18, which owes something to the never-ending turn 8 at Istanbul’s Otopark. However, Austin’s stand-out feature is the steep climb off the line to the first corner, which is very wide and therefore sees drivers taking a variety of lines through it, which always makes for spectacular viewing.

In its preview, Pirelli noted: "In terms of the forces exerted on the tyres, the loads at COTA are fairly evenly distributed between the front and rear axles and are more lateral than vertical. Usually, degradation is thermal and is therefore linked to the ambient temperature which in Texas in October can fluctuate considerably from one day to the next. In terms of strategy, one will need to wait and see how this might be affected by the new surface, keeping in mind that Saturday’s Sprint should provide plenty of useful data.

"In last year’s short race, the Medium was chosen by the majority of drivers, although some risked using the Soft, which was then only used in the final stages of the following day’s Grand Prix in an attempt to secure the additional point for setting the fastest race lap."

Normally, a two-stop has always been the quickest here, especially as a one-stop involves a lot of careful degradation management, to the obvious detriment of performance. In 2023, the most used compound was the C3, which was more effective than the C2 and now it will be interesting to see if the new asphalt could bring the Hard back into play.