Inside the Paddock at Austin's Circuit of the Americas With Audi Revolut F1

Formula 1 can feel distant for most fans, which makes the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, stand out. It is one of the few stops on the calendar where the crowd seems as eager to be there as the teams are to race.

Ars Technica spent a race weekend with the Audi Revolut F1 team at the track. The visit gave a look at how the operation runs during a grand prix, from the garage to the timing screens, and at what draws fans to the event in the first place.

For a tech audience, the weekend is a useful reminder of how much engineering and data work happens out of public view. Every session produces telemetry that engineers review in real time, and the race itself depends on decisions made in seconds. Audi's first season as a factory team in the sport puts the spotlight on that work.