David Coulthard on the challenge of Austin

So off we head to Austin this weekend for the first United States Grand Prix since 2007, and I'm pretty interested to see how the whole event goes.

The Circuit of the Americas, to give the track its proper name, is an excellent venue, and I know because not only have I driven it on Red Bull's simulator recently, but I also drove one of the team's Formula 1 cars around the layout itself a couple of years ago - albeit before the track surface had been laid, so making it more like a rally stage than a grand prix venue.

It's a track that I feel most of the drivers will like, especially in light of having been introduced to some pretty average new circuits over the past decade. I'd even go so far as to put it on a par with Istanbul, which was previously, in my opinion, Hermann Tilke's standout creation.

The opening section is the real attraction, from Turn 1 with its steep uphill braking zone that looks like something from the old Osterreichring, and then dropping away into a fast, downhill succession of sweeps that look like they've been heavily-influenced by the Maggotts/Becketts section at Silverstone and will really give drivers that 'yee-haw' moment on a flat-out qualifying lap.

The final section lets it down a bit, in the same way that the last few corners do at Yas Marina, but you can't have everything.

Austin the place

I sincerely hope - and believe - that this is Formula 1's best chance of making itself work in the USA in modern times.

Whereas Indianapolis was possibly the right place, the track was dull and unimaginative. Austin, as I've previously said, is anything but.

DC got more than he bargained for on the Yas Marina podium © XPB

Like Indy, the track is only about 20 minutes from the city, and the city itself is vibrant, is full of students and has a huge music scene. I think F1 will generally have a nice time there, and that means that even the most cynical guys from the paddock will probably end up saying nice things about it.

Plus it only takes about 90 minutes to fly there from Los Angeles and has a lot of catchment in terms of Mexico and South America; lots of Venezuelans have bought tickets, I've heard, and will be well up for cheering on their hero Pastor Maldonado.

No swearing please, we're British

Most of you will have, by now, seen the podium interviews I conducted post-race in Abu Dhabi and heard the answers given by Kimi and Sebastian.

Kimi's four-lettered utterance wasn't unexpected, but Seb's was a bit of a surprise. Also, I had the director in my ear who was talking to someone else in the gallery and saying, 'He didn't just say that, did he?' It was a little bit awkward so I just made my excuse for them and moved on.

Since then the drivers as a whole have been told to watch their mouths, and although some people might say that's Big Brother going a bit, I think everyone's just got to remember that the moment was being beamed into hundreds of millions of living rooms worldwide and that you just can't offend the majority of viewers - including young kids - to satisfy the amusement of a few.

It's a bit like when I flicked Michael Schumacher the bird at Magny-Cours in 2000. It's what my emotions - which were running high at the time - told me to do, and despite me apologising in the press conference afterwards, it didn't alter the fact that I'd made the gesture in the first place.