Massa rates COTA as 'one of the best new tracks' in F1

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Felipe Massa has declared himself a big fan of the Circuit of the Americas, the venue for this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

"Austin is definitely one of the best new tracks on the calendar," said the Williams driver. "Although I love the classics like Suzuka and Spa, Austin is also a very nice track to drive.

"It’s a place that I enjoy racing at," he added. "But I also like to visit because the people are very welcoming."

Massa has competed in all five races staged in Austin, but the Brazilian has never managed finished on the podium. His best result to date is fourth, which he took in 2012 and 2014 with Ferrari and Williams respectively.

His current team mate Lance Stroll has yet to taste the 20-turn, 3.427 mile (5.513km) track in a Formula 1 car.

"I am really looking forward to going to Austin," said the 18-year-old this week. "From what I have seen, racing in the States, and particularly in Texas, is a lot of fun.

"The track itself has a great flow to it," he added. "There is the first sector with the esses. And the elevation going up into turn 1 is quite impressive

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The team will be hoping for a better return on its efforts this weekend than it got from the previous round in Japan. Massa scored Williams' sole point by finishing in tenth in Suzuka, with Stroll retiring with suspension failure.

"We have been showing better performance during the last couple of races," insisted chief technical officer Paddy Lowe. "We hope for this pattern to continue into this race weekend.

"Our ambition, as always, is to score points with both drivers. We believe this is a realistic target.

"The Circuit of the Americas itself has a very spectacular layout," Lowe continued. "It has created some fantastic races in its short history.

"It contains some very challenging sequences and is a good all round test of the aerodynamics, power unit, suspension and of course, the driver.

"The teams all enjoy going to Austin as it is such a fun city," he added. "Fans from across the USA and other neighbouring areas make this a destination event."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.