USA GP ticket sales boomed when Verstappen stopped winning

Red Bull's Verstappen started the Formula 1 season in dominant fashion, winning four of the first five races and seemingly set to wrap up his fourth F1 driver's title well before the end of the campaign.

However, the Dutch 27-year-old, who won 19 of 22 races last year, has failed to win any of the last eight, with McLaren's Lando Norris his closest challenger and now 52 points behind with six rounds remaining.

Epstein, whose Circuit of the Americas (COTA) hosts a sprint race weekend on 19-20 October, told reporters: "Our ticket sales really took off when Max stopped winning, and it got more competitive."

The promoter had feared a "weakest year in four since the pandemic" but said there had instead been a 'hockey stick' effect of sales trending upwards.

The Grand Prix will also be the first since Red Bull-owned VCARB dropped Australian Daniel Ricciardo, a big favourite of the U.S. crowd, last month and replaced him with New Zealander Liam Lawson.

Epstein hoped Ricciardo might still attend in some other role: "I'm not sure necessarily people are buying tickets to come see him race if he's not in a competitive car, right? If you're coming, though, because he's part of the F1 community."

Epstein added: "Ricciardo is really, really loved in Texas, and I think he likes it here. I hope he's still coming here because we've got a lot of people that would love to shake his hand, get his autograph, take a picture, or just see him around town. We'll keep him busy," insisted Epstein.

The circuit will be hosting an Eminem concert after the Saturday sprint, and Epstein expected a crowd of 130–150,000 on that day alone.

There will also be a college football game in town on Saturday between the Texas Longhorns and the Georgia Bulldogs, a heavyweight clash that has sent hotel prices soaring in the state capital.

Epstein added, "I think we'll have a weekend like we've never had before in terms of overall excitement and things to do. The fact that we've got the top-ranked college game happening on that Saturday is going to make for an amazing weekend."

Get weekly news and analysis on the U.S. elections and how it matters to the world with the newsletter On the Campaign Trail. Sign up here.