Ride along in the first lap of a Formula 1 car around Austin’s F1 track

With less than a month before Formula 1 racing returns to the United States, on the nation's first track custom built for F1 cars, the organizers at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last weekend featuring a few famous American drivers -- Mario Andretti and Patrick Dempsey -- along with the first drive by a modern F1 car on the track. See what the F1 drivers will see in their first turn at Texas below.

Driven by Jerome D'Ambrosio in the Lotus-Renault 2010 car, this video shows what many F1 fans are looking forward too -- the long straightaway that ends in an uphill turn, a unique combo for a F1 track. Racetracks need some seasoning and several races to gain a character, before people stop comparing turns to those at other tracks, but already Austin's circuit has drawn favorable reminders of places such as the hallowed Silverstone track in England. If this doesn't create a more sizable following for F1 in the United States, I'm not sure what will.

Source: Yahoo!