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The Circuit of the Americas may be in just its 15th year of hosting Formula 1, but in that time it has delivered some incredibly memorable moments. From Daniel Ricciardo’s dream ride in Dale Earnhardt’s NASCAR car to a bitter moment between championship rivals in the cooldown room, we look back at some of the most amazing moments in the history of the United States Grand Prix.
The race win that put Daniel Ricciardo in Dale Earnhardt’s car
When asked why he races with the number 3, Ricciardo told F1, “It was my first ever number in karting and I was also a fan of (late NASCAR racer) Dale Earnhardt [Sr.]”
Ricciardo looked up to Earnhardt, describing the seven-time NASCAR Champion as “a hero” in his childhood. So when he arrived at McLaren in 2021, the team’s CEO, Zak Brown, had a special surprise for him.
Brown, who owns the iconic Wrangler Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Earnhardt Sr. during the 1984 NASCAR season, gave Ricciardo a challenge: get his first McLaren podium, and he gets to drive the Wrangler.
And Ricciardo stepped up, not just getting to the podium but winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. So a month and a half later, during the US Grand Prix weekend at COTA, Brown handed over the keys of the Wrangler to him.
Ricciardo, who was visibly giddy the whole time, had the chance to drive a few laps around the circuit and do some burnouts during a show run on the Saturday of the race weekend. Afterwards, he looked even more thrilled.
"I'm out of breath," he told the media crew recording the stint. "I was really working hard on that wheel.
"It was cool. Just to hear it, and just to change gears, you just felt like you're really on top of it. You have to wrestle it. But saying that, it handled a lot better than I thought. It was really cool.”
When Hamilton and Rosberg threw a hat at each other
Perhaps one of the most infamous moments in the history of F1 in Austin happened at the 2015 US Grand Prix, between Mercedes teammates and championship rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton had a healthy lead in the Drivers’ Championship by the time the race rolled around and stood a chance of clinching in Austin if he just scored three points more than Rosberg and nine points more than Sebastian Vettel, who was driving for Ferrari at the time.
Yet Hamilton got off on the wrong foot, giving up pole to Rosberg in a rain-delayed Sunday morning qualifying session. And while he was able to get ahead of his teammate on the race start, it was Ricciardo’s Red Bull who flew into the lead of the race 15 laps later, putting Hamilton’s shot at securing the title in jeopardy.
But these things aren’t always settled at the race start. And indeed multiple safety cars throughout the race changed the game quite a bit, eventually putting Hamilton on fresh tires right behind Rosberg at the very front of the pack. Any mistake on Rosberg’s part would seal the deal for Hamilton, and that’s exactly what happened. Rosberg went wide at turn 12, giving Hamilton plenty of space to fly past him and into the lead. Seven laps later, he crossed the finish line first and was declared the champion.
Things came to a real boil in the cooldown room when Hamilton tossed the second-place cap at Rosberg, who was clearly stewing in his frustrations on a nearby couch. Taking the gesture as more hostile than it was likely supposed to be, Rosberg chucked the hat right back at Hamilton.
On the situation, Rosberg said, "It's our usual games. He passes me the cap; I pass it back in my frustration."
How Kimi Raikkonen’s 114th attempt made history
Kimi Raikkonen may have ice in his veins, but he also has patience baked into his bones, as he showed at the 2018 US Grand Prix.
The 2007 World Drivers’ Champion soared across the finish line to take the win after Ferrari executed an excellent strategic call. Instead of following Mercedes’ call to pit Hamilton during a virtual safety car on lap 11, Raikkonen’s team kept him out to gain track position. Unsurprisingly, Hamilton was quicker to begin with, using his fresher tires to gain on Raikkonen. But the Finn gained a massive advantage by pitting 15 laps later and executing an excellent one-stop strategy to claim his first race win since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, a staggering 114 races prior.
And with that, Raikkonen broke the record for the longest gap between successive wins in the history of F1. The previous record of 98 races between wins was held by Riccardo Patrese. When he was told about the record by the media after the race, Raikkonen responded in true Iceman fashion, saying, “Obviously I’m much happier than finishing second but you know, I’m happy but let’s see later on.”
Raikkonen finished the 2018 season with 12 total trips to the podium, and a third place overall in the Drivers’ Championship. Of note, the US Grand Prix would be the last time that he stepped up to the top spot of the podium in his F1 career, as in 2019 he moved on from Ferrari to Alfa Romeo, and three years later he announced his retirement from the sport as a whole.
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