Friday / October 23
Find your bearings.
- Practice 1
- Practice 2
- EveningMaroon 5
- Spurs vs Rockets
Moody Center
GATES OPEN 9 AM
The Austin edit / Field Guide
COTA
weekend.
OCTOBER 23–25, 2026
The race is easy. You sit down. Getting there, getting back, and finding the right place for everyone afterward? That’s the real work of the weekend.
The film
The Friday F1 text.
The guide’s companion film, if you’d rather watch.
01 / The weekend
Put these in your phone.
Three days at the circuit. Basketball Friday, football Saturday. Give the things between them some room.
Saturday / October 24
Pick your crowd.
- Practice 3
- Qualifying
- EveningPost Malone
- Texas vs Ole Miss
DKR
GATES OPEN 8:30 AM
Sunday / October 25
The main event.
- The race
- Alesso
GATES OPEN 8:30 AM
All times Austin local (CT). Official F1 times ↗ · COTA’s full schedule ↗
In town Thursday? Grand PrixView runs October 22, with a pit-lane walk from 2–4 PM. Check your Thursday admission separately.
02 / Getting there
Book the return, too.
The car that gets you to COTA is only half the decision. Work out where you’ll meet it, when it’s leaving, and what happens if your evening runs long.
Official shuttle
Waterloo Park downtown or the Expo Center. Dedicated bus lanes and a front-gate drop. Buy ahead, keep your return wristband, and check the final return with the operator. Official passes ↗
Car service
For a client group, we’d start here. Agree the permitted drop-off, pickup and waiting arrangements before booking. A private car is comfortable. It still has to get out.
Driving or rideshare
Buy the correct parking pass before you drive. Rideshare uses the McAngus lot, with a tram to the circuit. Leave room for the walk, the queue and the return. COTA’s transport details ↗
Arrive early. Leave yourself some time.
Staying for Alesso can give the first wave of traffic time to move. Make sure your return plan lets you stay.
03 / Eat
Start with the occasion.
A proper client dinner and tacos after the track are different asks. These are the directions we’d start with. The right table still depends on your people.
East Austin / Italian-American
Casa Bianca
Seafood, handmade pasta and a room with some personality. A dinner to make time for, rather than squeeze between two other things.
North Loop / Interior Mexican
Fonda San Miguel
An Austin institution, with regional Mexican cooking and art worth looking up from your plate for. Plan it Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Dinner is closed Sunday.
East 6th / Mexican
Suerte
The masa is the point. A livelier room for a group that wants dinner to feel like part of the night. Check the arrangements for your party size.
South Austin / Barbecue
LeRoy and Lewis
Barbecue that works for an actual dinner. They serve into the evening, which matters when you’ve spent the afternoon at the track. Allow for a wait.
Downtown / The casual stop
Taquería de Diez
The downtown taco stop, off Trinity. Right for a small group that wants to eat and keep moving. A different brief from a seated client dinner.
No live availability is implied here. For dietary needs, confirm ingredients and cross-contact directly with the kitchen before booking.
04 / After dark
Let the night land.
Race week will offer you a different party every night. You don’t have to attend all of them.
Equipment Room
Vinyl, cocktails and a listening room beneath Hotel Magdalena. When the evening needs to land instead of escalate. Friday or Saturday for this weekend; closed Sunday.
Continental Club
Live music on South Congress. Put dinner within walking distance, then walk to the show. Check the current lineup and tickets before you make it the plan.
One ride in, then stay on foot.
Equipment Room and the Continental Club both put you around South Congress. That’s a useful bit of geography when everyone else is ordering another car.
05 / Home base
Where you sleep changes the weekend.
Downtown is the office. The circuit is the commute. If dinners and meetings are downtown, start there.
The downtown base
Four Seasons
On Lady Bird Lake, with downtown on your doorstep. The starting point when the time between appointments matters. Still plan the circuit transfer separately.
The estate stay
Commodore Perry
The manor, the gardens, a reason to stay on property. Choose it for the estate itself, then allow for the drive to dinner and the track.
Before you put your name on it, ask LBB.
Bringing people
to Austin?
Tell us who’s coming and what the weekend needs to do. We find what’s right, then take the agreed work off your hands.
Bring us your ask Scope, fee and follow-through agreed before we begin. Restaurant, hotel and supplier charges are separate.Race-week details checked October 18, 2026.
Recheck COTA’s schedule and your bookings before you go.