With the 2022 F1 Austin Grand Prix right around the corner, a lot of you are probably starting to wonder how to get to COTA and where to park. This was probably the hardest information to find when I was researching back in 2021 so, to end this F1 Austin three-part series blog, we’re going to go in-depth about how to get to the venue and where to park. Keep in mind that this is based solely on my experience from last year’s race so my advice may be out of date but it’ll give you a good idea of what to expect.
- Related Article: F1 Austin Grand Prix: Complete Beginner’s Guide (Part 1)
- Related Article: F1 Austin Grand Prix: Where to Sit and What Can I Bring In? (Part 2)
Should I Buy A Shuttle Pass?
I would say the shuttle pass is only worth it for people that are staying in the Downtown Austin area, are within walking distance to one of the pick-up spots and have no other form of transportation. It looks like the pick-up spots this year are Waterloo Park (Downtown), Barton Creek Square Mall (Southwest Austin), and Travis County Expo Center. Again, I haven’t taken one of these shuttles, but I’ve seen the lines for them and they look like a nightmare.
Should I Buy A Parking Pass?
Since we had a car, we were leaning towards buying a 3-day parking pass but it was pretty expensive. Also, we were only going to the Saturday and Sunday races so it didn’t make sense to us to spend a couple hundred just to park our car. We figured we were going to risk it and Uber to the venue since our hotel was only 15 minutes away (with no traffic).
If you are going to buy a shuttle pass though, keep in mind that some of the parking lotsstill require you to take a shuttle from the parking lot to COTA. Below are pictures of how long the line was to get on the shuttle to take people back to Lot Q. It was absolutely insane!
Should I Uber or Lyft to F1 Austin Grand Prix?
For Saturday, we took an Uber there and back, but it definitely was a mission. Getting there wasn’t so bad. Our Uber driver knew of a shortcut and took us almost right to the gate. Getting an Uber back was a whole different story. I think it took us almost three hours to get an Uber. It was a perfect storm of traffic, lack of availability, difficult access to COTA, and no organization.
Luckily (or unluckily), COTA has changed its rideshare policy this year. “Rideshare (Uber, Lyft, etc) services will operate out of the Del Valle High School parking lot and can only be accessed by a COTA shuttle (complimentary 3.5-mile ride).” Maybe this will be a better system, but I can’t attest to this since COTA is implementing it for the first time this year.
Even if COTA had the same rideshare situation as last year, I probably wouldn’t recommend it. Below are some pictures of what the rideshare area looked like. It took so long that we set up our camping chairs again and just started hanging out and talking to people.
So, Where to Park at F1 Austin Grand Prix?
There are a lot of neighbors with farmland off the 812 that surrounds COTA. Every single one of these neighbors will be trying to capitalize on this weekend. What I mean is that these neighbors literally turn their land into unofficial parking lots that they sell parking spaces for $40-$60/day depending on how close you park. So if you are driving down the 812, all you have to do is turn off to the side of the road, enter a lot that is advertising parking, pay them their fee (cash), and they shuttle you in what looks like a rented 16-passenger van right to the parking lot of the stadium.
This was a much better option for us as we got in and out relatively quick especially compared to Saturday. If you come early enough and park at one of the closer lots, you can probably just walk to the venue instead of taking their van shuttle.
Conclusion
Due to the popularity of F1, it looks like COTA has made some significant changes since last year. The biggest one is probably that rideshares won’t be dropping or picking people up near the stadium anymore. If I was going to attend this year, I would probably still see if they have those unofficial parking lots where you park on neighbors’ land. Those lots got you close enough to where you can just walk to the stadium which was ultimately much faster than waiting for an Uber or waiting for the shuttle buses.
