JWM - Volume 3, Issue 4 - (Page 60)

Above left: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain prepares to drive; at right, Hamilton holds the winner’s trophy after winning the first Formula 1 race in Austin, Texas. normally see. a row of Lamborghinis was parked in front; champagne and tequila-grapefruit pops were inside. there was a swanky Best of Britain cocktail party and a pop-up party called Lounge 88 where banquettes cost as much as $50,000. i couldn’t help thinking that the same money probably would have bought an entire restaurant back in watkins Glen. the start of a Grand Prix is like nothing else on Earth. two dozen multimillion-dollar machines, piloted by athletes tuned as finely as their cars, wait out a motionless countdown. with the blink of a row of lights, they accelerate to more than 150 miles an hour within a few seconds. they reach the first turn in a high-pitched roar, jockeying for position with no margin for error. then they scream around a corner and are gone. i’d positioned myself to see the F1 cars approach the hill, brake into the first turn, and come thundering down the straightaway. and with a crescendo of noise and color, that’s what they did—Vettel first, and everyone else behind him. J WM MAGAZINE 60 Vettel had the best car all season long, but it soon became evident that Hamilton was driving better. He clung to Vettel, trimming the distance between his second-place mcLaren and Vettel’s red Bull lap by lap. Finally, on lap 42, Hamilton spotted his opportunity. He darted past on the right, then braked hard into a sharp left turn. cheers thundered over the texas plains. it wasn’t that the assembled 110,000 preferred England’s Hamilton to Vettel, who’d won two championships before turning 25. rather, these were cheers for this glorious intersection of engineering and artistry, and for a hometown that created a world-class event. those who follow the sport have witnessed such an outpouring of enthusiasm at iconic tracks such as Nürburgring and Nagoya, montreal and monaco, Silverstone and Spa. Now, against the odds, it was happening in austin. Sebastian Vettel lost the race to Lewis Hamilton by 0.6 seconds but eventually won the 2012 championship, his third in succession. the 2013 U.S. Grand Prix will take place at austin’s circuit of the americas on November 17. [ j w m a r r i o t t. c o m © HocH Zwei/Getty imaGes, © LaRRy w. smitH/epa/coRbis Finish Line http://www.JWMARRIOTT.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JWM - Volume 3, Issue 4

Jwm - Fall 2013
Contents
JW Experts
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
Distinctive Products, People, Ideas & Style
Well-Being
Food + Drink
Visions of Sugarplums
The Portal
Austin at the Starting Line
Details, Details
The Tastes of the Year
Not So Private Lives
JW Experience
My Passion

JWM - Volume 3, Issue 4