Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

COTA 'the best overtaking circuit' - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo says the Circuit of the Americas is "the best overtaking circuit on the calendar" ahead of next weekend's United States Grand Prix.

The Austin circuit held its first grand prix in 2012, with Lewis Hamilton beating Sebastian Vettel to victory. Vettel was victorious a year later, before Hamilton had to pass team-mate Nico Rosberg on track to win last season. Ricciardo was third in 2014 having started from fifth, while Vettel in the second Red Bull came through from the pit lane to seventh place and Ricciardo says the track offers plenty of opportunities to overtake.

"For a modern-day circuit with lots of runoff, they’ve done the best job possible," Ricciardo said. "They’ve created a track that’s safe but managed to ensure it’s still fun. It’s probably the best overtaking circuit on the calendar."

Red Bull team-mate Daniil Kvyat is also a fan of the circuit, which should suit the RB11 more than the last track in Sochi.

"I really like racing at COTA; the track is really good," Kvyat said. "It has a lot of high-speed corners, heavy braking, long straights, a bit of everything really, so it’s great for racing, very enjoyable.

"Sector One is exciting. There are a lot of high-speed changes of direction. It’s kind of like Maggots-Becketts at Silverstone and it feels great through there in an F1 car. The circuit also has a lot of changes of elevation, which is something I think every driver appreciates. It’s a good track."

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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.