MEDLAND: COTA gets its game face on

Next week the F1 paddock descends on Circuit of The Americas for what is only the sixth time – and yet it's already a story of peaks and troughs.

From the initial excitement and buzz around the returning United States Grand Prix to questions about local funding, weather disruptions in 2015 and the gamble of last year's Taylor Swift concert, it has rarely been a smooth ride.

But with preparations for this year's race almost complete in Austin, COTA chairman Bobby Epstein believes the rollercoaster is starting to level out.

"Well I think things are getting easier every year," Epstein told RACER. "Ticket sales are really good, I think we are ahead of schedule on set-up, so we're very calm and we're excited. Some of the craziness that inevitably happens before an F1 race... there's a little less of it, and a little more excitement.

"Every year we're focusing on trying to add more for the fan experience and to continue to make it better. And this year we're adding an entirely new infield lawn area with a lot of new activations. It's a place where the general admission fan can be nearly surrounded 360 degrees by racing in just one spot. We also have the Haas Hill in the north infield area, too."

Haas Hill represents a tie-in between the American-owned team and its home race – two pillars that are strengthening the sport's position in America, and ones that Epstein feels are sometimes overlooked when talking about the North American market.

"We have to start to celebrate it. You may have to make small strides at first but it's the only way to get to the big strides, I guess. You've got to start somewhere. We had Alexander Rossi, who brought some attention, and now the Haas team with two drivers who have got some real accomplishments to be proud of and to celebrate, and I hope they use this as a platform to do that."

The platform at COTA is a solid one, with Epstein suggesting that the core fanbase that regularly attends the race is increasingly becoming supplemented by growing interest in the overall offering during the race weekend.

"I'd say 35-40,000 really set their calendar around it, and the others depend upon two factors," he says, "One is their individual schedule, and the other is the entertainer. This year, with Justin Timberlake and Stevie Wonder, it becomes a big attraction.

"It looks good this year, and we have a lot of people who were first time buyers coming back as well as a lot more families. That's exactly what we wanted to see with the Taylor Swift concert. If you compare 2017 to 2015 we continue to see more tickets sold per transaction, which tells us that there are more families coming.

"It has become an event besides the race. We as a promoter at the venue don't control the on-track racing, so we have to spend our time really making an effort to ensure that we give the fans the best experience we can. Whether that's music – with 30 bands and seven stages throughout the venue – or this year we have a golf experience with TopGolf, which has set up a driving range up at the top of Turn 1 – to a nail and beauty salon for whomever it appeals to. It's surprising that people are excited about that, so it's kinda nice."

This year even more effort has been made to bring those two groups together, with the qualifying session getting underway two hours later than previously – at 4pm local time – and creating in a four-hour gap after FP3. The schedule change is designed to keep fans at the track for Saturday night's Justin Timberlake concert, and reduce the time waiting for the next bit of entertainment.

The wider picture in F1 illustrates both the potential and the challenges facing host tracks, with extensions for Singapore and China closely following the end of Malaysia's contract and Silverstone exercising its break clause. Epstein says F1's traditional approach can be improved, and is hopeful that will happen under Liberty Media.

"Well we rely on the rest of the year to be healthy," he says. "Certainly having F1 put its seal of approval on the track has helped us create a premium brand, and that's nice, but the fate of the track is determined both by F1 and what we do the rest of the year.

"Liberty bring a new level of enthusiasm to the sport and has really energized some of the F1 employees that have worked hard there for a lot of years and given them a chance to flourish. We don't have results yet, but we certainly have the enthusiasm."

While F1's new owners have highlighted the United States as a priority, Epstein says COTA has yet to have significant discussions about how it fits into that picture.

"I think there's some more off-track commercial rights opportunities that they are open to discussing, which is certainly a welcome opportunity," he says. "We're yet to have any substantial changes, but I think that's just a matter of time.

"The truth is they haven't been to the venue yet as owners, and I think every venue is really unique. I get the feeling the U.S. is important to them, and if we're an integral part of that plan then we're important to them."

With Epstein confident things are becoming more settled at COTA, he admits that the landscape could change quickly. However, he acknowledges the best way to protect against the threat of additional American races is to continue to improve the offering in Texas.

"It's a mixed bag," he says. "The idea of creating more fans in the U.S. is music to our ears. The prospect of having another race in the U.S. – we know the first couple of years will be challenging, because there are just a limited number of fans and you're asking theme to choose. Not everyone has the budget to go to multiple races.

"You know that the first year there's an event, every new grand prix just does gangbusters. So we'd be excited, very excited about year number five of more races in the U.S. and maybe less excited about year number one. But hopefully Liberty is going to be willing to work with all the promoters to ensure that they remain viable.

"I think there's some synergies that can happen between different races and the organizations, but really we've got to focus on delivering the best thing we can here to the folks that come to COTA."