The COTA Turn 19 grandstand provides views looking over the last couple of corners on the Austin circuit. Once a grass banking, now a huge raised seating section lines the edge of the track during the Formula One race weekend.
This article provides a guide to spectating at Turn 19 and includes examples of the view, a seating chart and additional information on other facilities near this stand at Circuit of the Americas.
Contents
What is the Turn 19 grandstand at COTA?
The COTA Turn 19 grandstand is actually a set of bleachers that run alongside the edge of the track. This is a premium seating area only available for spectators who have pre-booked and pre-reserved their specific seats.
The bleachers at Turn 19 are currently only present and available to be reserved for the Formula One race weekend. For the Nascar Cup series or the Moto GP events the bleachers are physically removed, leaving this area open to general admission viewing on the grass bank.
COTA Turn 19 grandstand Tickets
The Turn 19 grandstand is pretty popular at the F1 at COTA, so tickets often sell out.
So I’d recommend buying tickets on StubHub instead, where there’s a huge number of US Grand Prix tickets currently up for sale. Plus they have way more single-day ticket options.
I’ve used StubHub for Formula One tickets a number of times in the last 12 months, including for my trip to the Grand Prix in Vegas, and have always had a great experience using them.
Their FanProtect guarantee for protecting your money / tickets is very robust and gave me a lot of confidence when purchasing.
Where are the Turn 19 bleachers?
The bleachers at Turn 19 are on the outside (right-hand side) of the circuit between turns 18 and 19. They start in the braking zone for Turn 19 and actually extend past the corner, towards the edge of the run-off area on the outside of the turn.
The bleachers are sat on the grass bank to the side of the track, and even the lowest rows at the front are raised up from the ground enough to see over the catch fence. As there’s no large run off area on the side of the straight the stand is pretty close to the edge of the track.
There used to be a second grandstand at Turn 19 located just after the apex, positioned at 90 degrees to the bleachers and looking directly back down the track towards Turn 18. This can be seen in pink in the image below.
UPDATE 28-Feb-2024: The old grandstand shown by the pink box on the image below has returned for the 2024 race and is called Turn 19B, and is in addition to the existing Turn 19 grandstand. More info to come soon.
The bleachers also back on to the F1 Fan Zone and the Germania Amphitheatre.
This is where the Sunday night Austin F1 concert will be held after the Grand Prix is over
COTA Turn 19 view
Sitting in the bleachers at Turn 19, you have a view off to your left of the cars exiting Turn 18. They will have a short blast down the straight before getting on the brakes right in front of you and turning in to the surprisingly challenging Turn 19. Often people run very wide on the exit of this corner.
As they apex Turn 19 they will head directly away from the bleachers towards the pit lane entry and the final corner on the circuit, Turn 20. You’ll lose them out of sight just after they’ve apexed the last corner and start their run on to the home straight.
You can see the cars one more time as they reach the end of the home straight and go around the first corner, right in front of the Turn 1 grandstand perched on top of the hill. It’s a little far away, however, so a set of binoculars would definitely be useful!
You’ll lose them from view again as they drop down the hill towards the second corner in front of the Turn 2 grandstand.
The image below shows the parts of the circuit that can be seen from the COTA Turn 9 grandstand. The extreme ends of this circuit coverage will change slightly depending where in the bleachers you sit, but even if you’re at the extreme left hand side you’ll still be able to see Turn 20.
The video below provides a great example of the Turn 19 view, showing the cars close up and also over at Turn 1.
COTA Turn 19 general admission viewing
For the Formula One weekend there is a large viewing area on the grass banking to the left of the bleachers, just after Turn 18 for COTA general admission pass holders.
You can’t quite see Turn 20 from here but if you’re on top of the bank you can still just about see across the track to Turn 1. This can be seen as the pink GA viewing area on the map below.
For other race events the bleachers are likely to be removed, so the whole section alongside the straight between turns 18 and 19 is general admission viewing on the grass bank.
COTA Turn 19 grandstand facilities
- The Turn 19 bleachers at COTA are partly covered. New for 2024 is a shaded section at the top of the stand which covers rows 16 and up in the Turn 19 stand and rows 12 and up in the new Turn 19B.
- There are toilet blocks directly behind the grandstand, just a short walk away.
- The bleachers are bench seats with no backrests or cupholders. If you want a backrest you need to try and choose the back row where you may be able to lean up against the railing.
- The Grand Plaza and F1 Fan Zone is directly behind the bleachers which has countless food and drink vendors.
- There is one giant TV screen visible from the bleachers. It’s on the other side of the track, just behind the armco, pretty much at the apex of the corner. The track here isn’t very wide so it’s close enough to see pretty easily from almost all of the grandstand.
COTA Turn 19 seating chart
Enter your name and email in the boxes below and the hi-res COTA grandstand seating charts will be sent to your inbox. The images are too big to host here!
Even though they are bleachers with shared benches, you still need to select a specific ‘seat’ when booking your tickets. This helps the circuit management manage the stand’s capacity.
UPDATE 28-Feb-2024: Currently the seating chart below only covers the Turn 19 grandstand, not the new-for-2024 Turn 19B grandstand. It will be updated soon.
Is Turn 19 at Circuit of the Americas a good place to sit?
The section of track that the Turn 19 bleachers gives a view of isn’t anything particular exciting from a car dynamics point of view. They will exit Turn 18 at fairly high speed before a short braking zone, the 90 degree left of Turn 19 and then the same again at Turn 20.
Turn 19 isn’t a particularly good overtaking opportunity as it’s quite fast, but there may be one or two last-ditched passing attempts at the final corner.
Unfortunately you don’t get to see the cars corner at amazingly high speed, as you would in the COTA Turn 6 grandstand. However Turn 19 can catch out a surprising number of drivers.
In the 2022 F1 race Valtteri Bottas got it wrong and ended up in the gravel on the outside of the corner here.
Being able to see over to the first corner is a bonus, but if you are actually sat in the COTA Turn 1 grandstand at the first corner you get a much better view of the home straight and the first two corners. Plus you can see all of the corners from Turns 15 to 19, and a bit of the last corner as well.
In the Turn 19 grandstand you’re likely to have the sun in your face for a lot of the day, whereas in the Turn 1 stand it’s more likely to be behind. Given this, and because Turn 1 has much wider views, I’d try and get tickets in the Turn 1 stand over the COTA Turn 19 bleachers.
If you do stick with the Turn 19 bleachers, trying to sit as high as possible gives you a better view of Turn 1. I’d also try and go around the middle in sections 5, 6 or 7 to be in line with the corner apex and get the best view of the run to Turn 20.
Closest parking lots
Parking lot B is the closest to the Turn 19 bleachers, followed by lot C. These are both near the main COTA circuit entrance.
See our detailed COTA parking guide for more info.
Other COTA grandstands
Below are detailed guides to all other grandstands at COTA:
Just wanted to say thank you. Im going for the first time with my 25 yo son and this is very helpful.
Mom 😁
Great, glad it was useful! Thanks for the comments.
Thanks for the info on Turn 19 grandstand seating. This is my first F1 race and am looking forward to a great experience.
Hi John, thanks for the comment, glad the info was useful! Have a great race.