They say that Austin should be kept weird.
It’s a quirky strapline that you’ll see around the Texan city and its relevant right now because for a track that has become synonymous with F1, Moto GP and FIA WEC, it will host Formula E next February, and for some it’s a challenge to visualise that right now. It might initially seem a little well, weird.
But that is probably because we haven’t seen a full grid of Gen4 cars powering toward the famous vertically mighty turn one crest, and not yet envisaged what will be an impress grid to turn one braking zone faster than F1, which will be the case on the late afternoon of February 6, 2027.
The story of COTA and Formula E goes back a few years because they have talked closely ever since the Texan tracks’ Vice President of Motorsport, Andy Soucek, got to know Formula E bigwigs while making sporadic appearances as an advisor to the world championships stewards.
Soucek attended the Miami and Madrid races last season. Around the time of the first of those races Formula E and COTA were about to agree on a date for the 2026-27 season. It was confirmed absolutely in June when the schedule was announced at the FIA World Motorsport Council.
Since that time both COTA and Formula E Operations have been planning. Those plans stepped up a gear this week when a delegation of Formula E officials, notably Host City director Lauren Robinson and Senior Sporting Manager, Irene Hvidkjaer, visited the FIA World Endurance Championship round.
They took part in several assessments of COTA in preparation for next February, including a track inspection last Monday.
“The idea is to look at regeneration areas and I think they (Formula E Operations) have a pretty good plan on where they want them to be, without modifying much of our current layout,” Soucek told FEN.
“But we’re going to be using the short course, which is our club course. It’s down at turn six where there’s a crossover, and it takes you straight into Turn 12 for braking a bit further down the straight, but into Turn 12.
“I think it’s the right way to approach this event with Formula E, and this was a no-brainer since the beginning, as we were planning to use a short version.”
COTA and FE: Will it last?
The details of COTA’s deal with Formula E has not been made public but the assumption is that a deal of multiple seasons is optioned after the first race next February.
Having two races in the U.S is an absolute minimum as far as Formula E is concerned. It has three current teams that race under the American flag – Andretti, Penske and CUPRA KIRO, and while there is no U.S driver on the grid at present, pretty much all of the entrants have partners that view the country as a must when it comes to activating its investments.
Next season will be the first time since the inaugural campaign in 2015-15 where two U.S venues have been used on the calendar. COTA wants a long-term future with Formula E, but that may depend on the success of the initial meeting.
“It’s important that a race stays in the calendar,” opined Soucek.
“I think that having a one-off is probably not ideal, neither for the championship nor for the track, neither for the fans. So, the idea is let’s see how the first one goes, and go from there. And that’s why it’s important that we do a good job, and the first one is a success.
“But even if it is not the success that we may be hoping for, because we’re targeting really high – as it should be- if we think that it has the potential to grow, we will continue trying to make it bigger and better.
“So, the idea is to go more than just one year-that’s for sure-and to have it in our calendar for a lot longer. But at the moment, we’re trying to take it step by step.”
