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COTA labels 2015 U.S. Grand Prix 'financially devastating'

The owner of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) says heavy rain and the scheduling of Mexico's return to the calendar meant the U.S. Grand Prix was "financially devastating" for the venue.

The Austin race weekend suffered numerous delays due to the heavy rain from the nearby Hurricane Patricia, which saw qualifying pushed back to Sunday. Many fans who attended on Saturday were locked out during FP3 for safety reasons before sitting in the rain without seeing a lap in the afternoon, though the circuit did open the pit lane to those who had stayed.

"It was a tough weekend," circuit chairman Bobby Epstein told the Austin-American Statesman, before going on to describe the race as a "financially devastating weekend for the company".