Photos From The Starting Grid At The 2023 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix

Photo: Jalopnik / Elizabeth Blackstock

The 2023 United States Grand Prix was a first for me at Jalopnik: after ages of wondering how to get access to the Formula 1 pre-race grid, I finally figured it out just in time to scoop up access to two grids in one weekend: the sprint race grid and the proper Grand Prix grid.

There’s a lot to take in on an F1 grid. The cars are obviously the stars of the show, but if you’re a keen fashionista or a celebrity aficionado, you’d have been as equally at home; this is a place where the worlds of motorsport and pop culture collide. I know absolutely nothing about fashion or celebrities (to the point where I usually just prowl through Getty to identify the people I could tell were important but could not place), so the focus here is on the cars and their drivers. I wish I could have brought back the rest of the sensory experience as well — the unrelenting heat of the sun, the smell of hot rubber and cooked brakes, the tidbits of multilingual chatter drowned out by the sound of a power unit firing up — but for now, these photos will have to do.