Tickets – 2018 US Grand Prix at COTA

Detailed information on grandstands and the best tickets to buy for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on October 19-21, 2018.

Tickets for the 2018 US Grand Prix went on sale April 27 and prices are largely unchanged from last year. With lots of elevation changes, the views from both General Admission (GA) areas and most grandstands at COTA are excellent. Most fans buy a ticket for all 3 days of the weekend (Friday to Sunday), though single-day tickets are available; these can be good if seeing the concert on a particular day is important to you.

• This year’s US Grand Prix concerts at COTA will be headlined by Bruno Mars on Saturday, October 20 and Britney Spears on Sunday, October 21. The Turn 9 Bleachers are the best grandstand to choose for good views of the concert stage.
• Images supplied by Marie Misso. Support the ongoing development and improvement of our free Grand Prix travel guides by buying your F1 tickets from our partners, Gootickets. We receive a small commission when you buy using the links on this page. We don’t apply any markup, so you’ll always pay the cheapest price!
  

2018 US Grand Prix tickets (3-days)

• VIP/hospitality: tickets in special areas with full catering and good trackside views. For example, COTA Club at Turn 12 or Champions Club from F1 Experiences.
• Gootickets Top Rows: guaranteed top-row seats in selected grandstands for a small premium over the regular ticket price. Recommended
• Premium Grandstands: individually seated grandstands at the best locations: Main Grandstand opposite the pits, Turn 1 & Turn 15. Most tickets are sold for 3 days, though some cheaper categories are also sold for individual days.
• Bleachers: reserved grandstands with bench seating on Turns 4, 9 and 12. Sold as 3-day tickets, or single day tickets for Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
• General Admission: the cheapest 3-day tickets provide access to the circuit, but no reserved seat.

Pictured above. This is the grandstand to choose if you are keen to know what is going on in the pits and experience the build up, start and finish of the race (see panorama, above). The atmosphere is always good here, but if you are after on-track action, it’s not the best choice. The Main Grandstand also boasts some of the highest prices of any at the circuit, which is another consideration. We prefer other grandstands, like Turn 1 or Turn 15.

The Turn 1 grandstand is popular (and expensive) for good reason, with excellent panoramic views of the circuit from the top of the hill overlooking the main straight and first corner. There’s a big elevation change from the start/finish line to the first corner and the cars take the blind apex at low speeds, giving photographers a good chance to capture the action.

This is one of the cheaper bleacher-style grandstands and represents decent value. You get a view of the cars taking the high-speed esses section of the circuit. Check out a panorama of the view from Grandstand 4 here.

The views are also decent from the Turn 9 bleachers. If you get a seat high up in the stand (recommended), you’ll be able to see around 50% of the circuit; from the esses beginning at turn 4 through to the hairpin at turn 11. Check out some pictures of the view from the Turn 9 bleachers here.

Most of the overtaking at COTA takes place in the heavy braking zone leading into Turn 12, which makes this grandstand (or Turn 15) a good choice for on-track action. Arguably the best seats are actually those furthest away from Turn 12 (closest to the Turn 15 grandstand), where you get a better view of this whole section of the track (Turns 12-16).

One of the more popular grandstands at COTA, and for good reason. The views from the two separate Turn 15 grandstands are excellent; depending on your exact seat, you should get a decent view of the action from turns 12-16. You also get proper seats (as opposed to bleachers in the nearby Turn 12 grandstand) and the toilet facilities and food choice are better.

With lots of elevation, the views from General Admission (GA) at COTA are excellent. Walk the track during the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday to get a feel for the best places to watch, then get there early on race day to reserve your spot. There are good hillside vantage points in GA all around the circuit, but particularly around turns 1, 7-8, 11, 15 and 18-19.

Been to COTA? Leave a comment with your favorite place to watch the action!