Petrov's move was funny.
At first, I just thought he had an off since the live feed missed it, initially, but when they showed the replay with the steering column breaking and then the out-of-car camera view of him in the air (above) I did actually laugh.
As for Austin, if that is the final design of the circuit, Turn 1 is going to be a squeak. In fact, if I try and think like a race engineer, I'd have no idea how to create a baseline setup for that track, other than "everything neutral and let's see what happens..."
There are long straights, where you want low downforce, but Turn 1, alone, is going to require massive aerodynamic *and* mechanical grip (and, might I say, screw Pirelli and their new tires... you can't have marbles at the top level of motorsport...).
The rest of the track, with it's elevation changes, is going to make for some very interesting racing. The hump between 11 and 12 looks downright dangerous; I bet we see a couple guys loose it there during the first couple practice sessions and they come on and off the throttle when the car gets light. 2 through 7 also looks deceptive ala the S's at VIR or Road Atlanta.
I like. That's a proper race track... far better than, as Villeneuve so aptly put it, the "Mickey Mouse" course at Indy... which comment, as long as it has been mentioned, also resulted in what was, in my opinion, the greatest F1 paddock interview of all time... (para-phasing):
Interviewer: "Michael, Michael! What are your thoughts on the new, US GP circuit at Indianapolis? How does it compare with Jacques Villeneuve's opinion?
Schumacher: "Oh? What is Jacques opinion of the circuit?" (Smile)
Interviewer: "He has referred to the layout as "Mickey Mouse.""
Schumacher: (Brief pause) "Then it should suit him." (Smile, walk away)
