Austin's Circuit of the Americas left the door ever so slightly open for Formula 1 to finish its season in Texas, in the event that war in Iran causes cancellations to races in the Middle East.
F1 is considering ending the season at Italian circuit Imola if the races in Qatar on Nov. 29 and Abu Dhabi on Dec. 6 need to be cancelled, which is looking increasingly likely.
F1 boss Stefano Domenicali said on Wednesday that in that scenario the season would end in Europe -- even if it snows -- and not in the U.S.
However, in that instance, F1's teams and cars would already be in America with the Las Vegas Grand Prix will be held on November 21, a week before Qatar.
Speaking in his own media call that day, COTA chief Bobby Epstein said F1 had not reached out to him about the venue standing in.
"It wasn't ever brought up. I heard the rumours the same way you did!" Epstein joked to media on Wednesday.
Austin is already set to host the U.S. Grand Prix on Oct. 25, as scheduled.
Hosting a second race so close to its grand prix -- one of the landmark events on the F1 calendar -- would be tough.
Asked if COTA could accommodate a race on that timeline, he said: "We'd have to see. I wouldn't want to see our track get another race and not have the massive crowds in the scene.
"I think it's part of what makes it so special. And I don't think logistically, you can put that together in such a short back to back with our U.S. Grand Prix.
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"I wouldn't want people to have to choose between [two races]. I'm very happy with our mega weekend as it is. And that's the way it should always be. I don't want it to be less than that."
Epstein then appeared to suggest he would be willing to change his mind if F1 needed COTA to stand in.
"But I would say... If it helped F1, we'd be here to do that. And we want to do whatever we can to make them a success and understand that sometimes just as we saw during COVID, circumstances dictate you do things a little differently than you otherwise think ideal."
Should the final two races be cancelled, the final race of the season is understood to be earmarked for the weekend of Dec. 6.
F1 only needs to re-arrange one of those two events because it has successfully rescheduled the Bahrain Grand Prix to take place in Malaysia on Oct. 4.
F1 had originally been set for a 24-race calendar, but events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have already been cancelled.
As per F1's commercial agreement with its 11 teams and global broadcasters, the season schedule cannot drop below 22 races.