United States Grand Prix promoter Bobby Epstein has confirmed a swathe of track changes at the Circuit of the Americas ahead of the upcoming edition of the race. The motivation for the alterations is to better prevent track limits issues, which have become a problem in F1 in recent seasons, with the venue in Austin one of the worst offenders on the calendar. It caused Haas to lodge a protest with the FIA after last year's race, which the stewards ultimately rejected. However, COTA has opted for preventative measures this season, with more cameras installed to capture infringements more accurately. Having debuted on the F1 calendar in 2012 as a new venue, much of the track surface was getting old - and increasingly bumpy. This provoked Max Verstappen to complain about the asphalt. Although an indirect response, the track has been resurfaced, which Epstein admitted was overdue. “It was mainly to get rid of the bumps,” he told Autosport . “Some of that track was 12 years old, so it was time. “I know Max [Verstappen] gave it a pretty poor review last year. So I hope we hear something positive. I'm certain we're going to hear, ‘This is like a totally new track. It's fantastic.’”
To further combat track limit violations, changes to the run-off areas at COTA have also been implemented alongside the cameras. On the insides of Turns 6, 13, 14 and 15, the asphalt has made way for turf, in a bid to dissuade drivers from running across them. Additionally, the outside of Turn 11 has been changed from a Tarmac run-off area with so-called 'turtle bumps'. In its place is a 'fake' gravel trap, with stones bound together with resin. The approach was first used at Zandvoort and prevents loose stones from being kicked up and onto the racing line. However, taking action can be problematic as the circuit has had to balance the requirements of F1, MotoGP and other racing series. “There are some areas where it's hard because, if you run MotoGP and F1 on the same track, one wants gravel in an area where another one wouldn't," Epstein explained. “You can't have both, and you can't cut into the track and put in gravel, then flip it back and hope it stays watertight when you have clay underneath it. So there's some back and forth challenges to it.”
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