Brad Pitt, Mario Andretti and Final Paddock Notes from F1 U.S. Grand Prix at COTA

Brad Pitt was taking notes, the Magnussens are going to race together, Sebastian Vettel planted a tree, and Lando Norris drove further than anyone else.

Autoweek wraps up some off-track action from the U.S. Grand Prix.

Magnussens to Team at Gulf 12 Hours

Haas F1 racer Kevin Magnussen will return to sports cars in December at the Gulf 12 Hours alongside father Jan.

Kevin Magnussen spent 2021 in IMSA and also participated in the LMP2 category at Le Mans to fulfill a long-held ambition of racing next to his father. The two will now team up again for the endurance race at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix venue Yas Marina, sharing a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo run by MDK Motorsports.

“I feel like it's a great opportunity that me and my Dad have, that we're both, you know, active racing drivers at the same time,” said Kevin Magnussen. “It's quite unique. And of course, it's because my Dad had me so young that he's not even 50 yet. It’s going to be great and, as long as we can, we're gonna take every opportunity to race in the same car, and I don't really care which kind of car it is. As long as I'm getting the opportunity to race with him and make these kind of memories, then, I'll take it.”

And who’s quicker? “I think in a GT car my Dad… not many people are faster than him in one of those, so I’m going to push like mad to try and be faster than him.”

COTA’s Trees for Vettel

COTA had a special send-off for the retiring Sebastian Vettel in the form of a tree-planting ceremony.

The circuit is planting 296 trees as a nod to the number of grands prix Vettel has participated in so far. The first 20 have been planted on COTA’s campus, along the access road near the paddock, and Vettel took part in a ceremony to plant the final one of those. The remainder will be in a grove nearby to assist with floodplain restoration.

The entire project will be known as the Vettel Grove. Vettel, who won at COTA in his final title-winning campaign of 2013, has been an advocate of environmental matters in recent years. He has used helmet designs and T-shirts this year to raise awareness of ecological issues in different locations visited by Formula 1.

McLaren Trials Digital Advertising

McLaren’s cars took to the track on Friday with digital advertising screens on the MCL36. The innovation, undertaken with Seamless Digital, meant two small screens were placed on either side of the cockpit, and change every 45 seconds.

The device weighs around 190 grams and provides a glimpse of what may be possible in advertising in the future, with the potential for different sponsor logos to be shown at different parts of the track, or for different drivers.

A device was also displayed on the front of a driver’s helmet, though this was not trialled on track.

COTA Boss Thinking Outside the Box

COTA chief Bobby Epstein is never shy of looking for new ways to promote his event. His latest suggestion – why not put two and four wheels together?

“I think we can get creative,” he said. “I’d love to see the motorcycles race during F1 weekend. I think there’s ways to look at it. I think it would be interesting. I think there are a lot of creative ideas for support races thrown out there, I give you that as one.

"You could have an Uber race, a Lyft and a New York Taxi. It’s on the table. Get an LA cab, and a New York and Chicago cabbie and an Uber and a Lyft and we’ll see if that is fun. This is what it’s about, let’s make sure that we entertain the crowd!”

IndyCar Champ Palou Drives in FP1

Alex Palou became the first IndyCar champion to participate in an official F1 session in a decade and a half when he got behind the wheel of McLaren’s MCL36 on Friday.

Ganassi IndyCar racer Palou resolved his future after much contractual wrangling and part of the arrangement allowed him to carry out Formula 1 tests with McLaren. Palou beamed after the session and declared himself “super happy” with his outing, though a seat with McLaren in Formula 1 is not on the horizon.

Elsewhere Robert Shwartzman had his first FP1 outing with Ferrari, promising youngster Théo Pourchaire did likewise with Alfa Romeo, while Logan Sargeant’s immersion within Williams continued as he sampled the FW44.

Mario Andretti Gets Behind the Wheel

Not many 82-year-olds could drive a Formula 1 car, but then again, not many 82-year-olds are named Mario Andretti.

A week after climbing into the cockpit of the 2013-spec McLaren MP4-28 at Laguna Seca, Andretti got back in action by demonstrating the same car at the Circuit of the Americas. Andretti was the first driver to officially complete a lap of the circuit when it was inaugurated in 2012, and the final of the 20 turns on the COTA Grand Prix circuit track is now named after him.

Andretti was also joined in the demonstration run by McLaren boss Zak Brown, who drove Lewis Hamilton’s race-winning McLaren MP4-27 from COTA’s first F1 race in 2012, a car that Brown now owns.

Lando Norris Is F1's King of the Long Drive

Golf has become a favorite pastime of some of the younger drivers in the paddock, and broadcaster ESPN set up a driving range, of sorts, in the paddock.

An electronic sensor on a screen registered the distance struck by those participating and it was regular golfer Lando Norris who spent some time at the tee to hit an effective 306-yarder. Up next was Alex Albon on 288 yards, with another prolific golfer Carlos Sainz managing 269 yards.

The (Brad) Pitt Lane

Brad Pitt was at the US Grand Prix all weekend, apparently. You would never have known from the near-relentless TV coverage, pictures, and presence on social media.

Pitt was in town, along with Jerry Bruckheimer and Joseph Kosinski, to do research for his new Formula 1-based movie that is due to begin filming next year. They met the drivers, scoped out the paddock, and had discussions with Team Principals over the proposed direction of the film.

“I was particularly impressed by the technology they showed us,” said Haas boss Guenther Steiner. “They used it to do Maverick (Top Gun), because I didn't know that this existed so I think they are the best out there in the moment to do something like this. It's very good, doing things like this with this calibre of people, and I think there's no negatives, there's just positives. So I think it's fantastic.”