Nearly 400,000 fans are predicted to attend this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, flooding the city’s hotels, motels, and short-term rentals in the process.
Formula 1 fandom in the U.S. has reached fever pitch—and that trend only looks set to continue, with AppleTV announcing shortly before the start of the Texas event that it has secured the exclusive American broadcast rights for the sport in a five-year deal that is reportedly worth $160 million per year, according to ESPN.
Hours after that announcement was made Oct. 17, the action in Austin kicked off, when the drivers took part in the first practice round of the weekend, before heading straight into sprint qualifying…