Jenson Button believes the Circuit of the Americas compares to the world’s best race circuits in place.
“The first sector of this circuit ranks as one of the best parts of a racetrack anywhere in the world,” the McLaren driver enthused.
“The first corner is really tricky, because it’s steep and blind, after that, the circuit just winds through an incredibly fast switchback until the heavy braking for the back straight.”
Many drivers praised the opening part of the lap during F1’s inaugural race weekend last year. The sequence is modeled in part on the high-speed Maggots, Becketts and Chapel S-bends at Britain’s Silverstone circuit.
“After such an intense start to the lap, the straight offers a bit of a breather until you commit once again to the final sector, which is a series of slow-speed, quite technical corners,” said Button. “Again, there’s a real variety of corner here, and it’s fun to nail the sequence. It’s definitely a place where accumulated knowledge of the layout can add to your speed.”
Button showed good pace during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but finished out of the points having lost time with an early pit stop following a first-lap collision.
“I’m optimistic that the track will suit the high-speed characteristics of our car, which showed improved pace in both India and Abu Dhabi. After a couple of difficult races, it’d be great to get a strong finish for all the Formula 1 fans in the US.”
