{"id":3823,"date":"2019-11-18T09:06:19","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T14:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/?p=3823"},"modified":"2021-01-07T11:12:16","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T16:12:16","slug":"wheelchair-guide-cota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2019\/11\/18\/wheelchair-guide-cota\/","title":{"rendered":"A Wheelchair User’s Guide to Accessibility at the Circuit of the Americas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I first became a fan of Formula One (a.k.a. Formula 1 or F1) in my late 20s, especially after visiting Monaco for a day and being able to stand right in the middle of the race route. I’ve loved fast and exotic cars since even before then, being able to rattle off the names of different models of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis…you name it. But my geek really grew after the debut on Netflix of Formula 1: Drive to Survive<\/a><\/em>, a documentary series that followed several of the teams during the 2018 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So what exactly is Formula One<\/a>? It’s the highest class of\u00a0single-seater auto racing\u00a0sanctioned by the\u00a0F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de l’Automobile\u00a0(FIA) and owned by the\u00a0Formula One Group. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier forms of racing around the world since its inaugural season in 1950. Think of big names like Enzo Ferrari, Mario Andretti, and Michael Schumacher. The word\u00a0“formula”\u00a0in the name refers to\u00a0the set of rules<\/a>\u00a0to which all participants’ cars must conform.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Formula One season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix<\/em> (French for ‘grand prizes’ or ‘great prizes’), which take place worldwide on purpose-built circuits and on public roads. Arguably one of the coolest things about Formula One is the races that take place right in the middle of large cities like Singapore or Abu Dhabi. Formula One cars are also the fastest in the world, achieving speeds up to 215 miles per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The US Grand Prix has been held on and off in the United States 48 times since 1908, and became a part of the Formula One circuit in the 1950s. Races have been held in New York<\/a>, Phoenix, and Indianapolis, but the current US Grand Prix didn’t begin at COTA in Austin, Texas until 2012 after a 9-year hiatus. I decided that 2019 was the year to attend my first and possibly only Formula One race in the United States. I hoped that the accessibility would be good, and certainly felt it would be better than at other race locations around the world. Here’s what my experience was like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n