Nick Saban Hits The Track At Circuit Of The Americas At United States Grand Prix

Nick Saban has the need for speed.

Austin, Texas will be at the center of the sports world this weekend with two massive events happening over the course of three days. The Texas Longhorns host the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday. Meanwhile, all weekend long, not too far away at Circuit of the Americas, Formula 1 is in town for the United States Grand Prix.

So, a cross-over event of some kind seemed inevitable, especially with ESPN's College Gameday in town for the massive game between the Longhorns and Bulldogs, and we got it on Friday when Nick Saban took a look around the F1 paddock and even got a chance to do ride along for a hot lap around the track.

The College Gameday social media accounts shared a video of the legendary coach making his way into the paddock and then the garages and pitlane for a look around.

That then culminated in a lap around the circuit in a Mercedes.

Man, that's so cool. 

Getting to do a hot lap around COTA would be incredible. There are so many fantastic corners, and that esses section from Turns 3 to 6?

Come on, that's awesome.

I don't know who I need to get in contact with about that, but if I find out, I'm probably going to call so much that they'll have to block my number.

Anyway, Saban got an interesting day of on-track action. The first session was a typically free practice session — the only one of the weekend — while the second session was the Sprint Shootout to set the grid for Saturday's sprint races.

There were some surprises with McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Sergio Perez making earlier-than-expected exits in SQ1 and SQ2 respectively.

In the end, championship leader Max Verstappen — who has won the last three United States Grand Prix as well as last year's Sprint Race — will start the Sprint on pole.