Circuit of the Americas · Austin
56 laps · 5.513 km per lap · Pirelli C2 Hard / C3 Medium / C4 Soft
Circuit of the Americas was designed by Hermann Tilke with several corners deliberately inspired by other iconic circuits, most notably a Turn 1 that climbs steeply uphill to a blind apex reminiscent of Silverstone's Maggots-Becketts before dropping back down through a fast, flowing middle sector.
The undulating elevation across the lap — a rarity among modern purpose-built circuits — gives COTA real character, and combined with a long back straight and heavy braking zone into Turn 12, produces some of the most consistently exciting racing on the calendar.
Degradation runs on the higher side thanks to the sustained loading through the fast middle sector, and the circuit's width gives it a strong overtaking score, meaning strategic variation between drivers is a regular and meaningful feature of the race.
Pirelli nominates the C2 Hard, C3 Medium and C4 Soft for COTA. The combination of high-speed cornering and Texas heat typical of the October date shapes a compound range that needs genuine durability alongside pace.
Durable enough to anchor a one-stop race through COTA's demanding middle sector, forming the backbone of most straightforward strategies.
A common starting tyre and the anchor of most two-stop plans, offering a clear pace advantage over the Hard while coping with a competitive stint length.
Q3 runners start on the Soft under the usual rules. Its shorter life is a real factor, but the circuit's strong overtaking score makes recovering from an early stop more realistic than at a tighter circuit.
COTA's uphill Turn 1 is a genuine passing opportunity off the start and on any lap where a following car can get close enough on the run down from the grid, while the heavy braking zone into Turn 12 after the long back straight is the circuit's other clear overtaking point.
This combination of two distinct passing zones, plus a track wide enough to support multiple racing lines through most corners, gives COTA one of the stronger overtaking scores on the calendar and rewards strategies built around pace rather than pure track-position defence.
The standard plan: start on the Medium, pit once for the Hard, and use the circuit's genuine overtaking chances to make up any places lost in the pit stop.
A pace-focused alternative that leans on COTA's strong overtaking score, using consistently fresher tyres to attack through Turn 1 and Turn 12 rather than relying on a single tyre to last the race.
Texas weather in October can shift quickly, and a track that dries or dampens partway through the race adds a further layer of strategic complexity worth monitoring alongside the usual tyre and pit-window calculations.
The long back straight into Turn 12 is COTA's clearest deployment zone, and a well-charged battery there directly sets up the circuit's most reliable overtaking chance.
The fast, flowing middle sector after Turn 1 offers limited harvesting opportunity given the sustained speed through it, so most meaningful energy recovery happens under braking into Turn 1 and Turn 12, making disciplined management through the middle sector important for arriving at the back straight with enough charge.
A one-stop is 6.9 s faster than the best two-stop in clean air.
One-stop pit window: lap 21–30 of 56
Single car, no traffic, track position or Safety Car — so PITWALL shows stop count and timing but no compound order: in 2026 the model prefers finishing on softs, while teams mostly ran medium → hard. Model circuit-1. How the model is calibrated →
Kimi Antonelli won on Medium → Hard. Among 18 of 19 finishers with recorded strategies: 10 × one-stop, 8 × two-stop.
First pit stops: lap 13–29 (median 22).
Full race analysis →Build your strategy for COTA in PITWALL. Attack through Turn 1 and Turn 12, manage the demanding middle sector, and put a genuine overtaking circuit to the test.
Open PITWALL Simulator →