Gallery: What It's Like to Go Behind the Scenes at an F1 Race
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Last weekend, Formula One came to Austin for the United States Grand Prix. WIRED went behind the scenes of the race to see how the pinnacle of motorsports happens.
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Most everything on a F1 car is designed to operate at a certain temperature. Deviate from that and performance suffers. Here, Red Bull mechanics put heated blankets on tires to keep them warm, and use dry ice to blow cool air over the engine radiators.
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Ignoring the festivities, team mechanics wash the tires to make them look good, and to wash off dirt that adds weight and hurts aerodynamics. After the race, the tires will be shipped overseas and incinerated, to keep Pirelli's secret compounds away from competitors.
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Austin's Circuit of the Americas, which has been hosting F1 races since 2012, has 20 turns and runs counter clockwise.
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It's inspired by tracks in Germany and Turkey, but the atmosphere is distinctly American.
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Before the cars took to the track Sunday afternoon, fans saw the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, a jet team flyover, and a drum line performance.
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Despite the Texas atmosphere, F1 legend and Scotsman Sir Jackie Stewart stuck with his tartan cap.
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Because they can't see the nose of their car from the cockpit, drivers get help lining up on the starting grid.
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By race time Sunday afternoon, the track had mostly dried out. But there were still slick parts, making it hard for teams to choose between tires optimized for drying in wet or dry weather.
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It was something of a messy race. 8 of 18 drivers pulled out before the checkered flag waved, and there were a few minor collisions. Sauber's Marcus Erissson got in an early minor crash, then retired on the 26th lap when his car suffered electrical failure.
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Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg ran wide late in the race, letting his teammate Lewis Hamilton into the lead.
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Hamilton held on to finish first and lock up the 2015 driver's championship with three races left in the season.
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After the race, fans poured out of the grandstand and onto the track for Hamilton's celebration, with Nico Rosberg in second and Sebastian Vettel in third.
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Many had sat through the rain to watch qualifying Sunday morning. Some had even come out Saturday, waiting in the wet for racing that was ultimately postponed.
