United States Grand Prix Guide

Editor

For all you need to know about the big news, the track, the tyres, the facts and figures ahead of the USA Grand Prix.

Rosberg vs Hamilton: Round 18

With four races remaining in 2016 and 33-points separating them, Lewis Hamilton will be desperate to claim a victory at the USA Grand Prix if he is to keep his title defense alive against Nico Rosberg.

Suffering a slow start that cost him six places in the opening lap at Suzuka, the Brit still managed to finish on the podium but didn’t do himself any favours, while Rosberg extended his lead on the Drivers’ Championship.

The German led from pole in Japan and crossed the chequered flag comfortably as he continues to enjoy a good run of performances since the start of the second half of the season.

With 100-points still to play for, the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg will now move to Austin, with the triple World Champion winning three of the last four races.

Rosberg, though, won for the first time in his career in Japan, where Hamilton is also known to be successful, so it would be silly to rule out the title contender at the Circuit of the Americas.

Mercedes, though, have been plagued with reliability issues this season, with Red Bull and Ferrari fully aware of that.

Red Bull are the only other constructor to win a race and challenge Mercedes throughout the season, it will be interesting to find out whether Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen can interrupt another 1-2 finish for the Silver Arrows.

Ferrari on the other hand have not won a race in 2016, but during the week Kimi Raikkonen insisted that they definitely have the pace to challenge for the top spot on the podium.

Facts and figures

King of Austin – Lewis Hamilton. Since the USA Grand Prix returned to the Formula 1 calendar after four years in 2012 and moved to Austin, Hamilton has completely dominated the event and has won every single race except for the 2013, where Sebastian Vettel claimed victory in a Red Bull.

Michael Schamacher has the most USA Grand Prix victories, claiming six races wins since the turn of the century.

Of the current grid, Vettel is the only other driver than Hamilton to actually win the USA Grand Prix.

Like most races around the world, Ferrari are the most successful constructor, with nine wins.

The weekend’s timetable

From Paddock Club pit lane walks to the drivers’ track parade, we have all the times that you need to note for the Austin weekend

And don’t forget it is a 2pm start local time, 8pm GMT, to the United States Grand Prix.

The full timetable

A lap around the American circuit with Daniel Ricciardo

“The track in Austin is sick, I love it. It has a lot of unique features like the wide apex at turn one, you could fit about four cars side by side through there. There are loads of opportunities to overtake and have fun throughout the whole track. It has fast flowing sections and hairpins, pretty much everything I like in a track. Austin city is also awesome, I really like its character. It’s raw and authentic which makes it cool without trying to be. The old school bars and music venues which are super cool just makes it work. Pete’s Piano bar and Rainey Street has a lot of local music which is a really nice vibe and I want to check out Hotel Vegas this year.”

COTA guide

Full circuit guide

Drivers favour supersofts for Austin

Pirelli’s supersoft tyres are the preferred choice for the drivers for the upcoming United States GP with Ferrari taking just one set of the hard tyres.

Formula 1 next heads to the Circuit of the Americas where the tyre allocation comprises the medium, softs and supersoft tyres.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg has opted for two hards, five softs and six of the supersofts while his title rival Lewis Hamilton has gone with three, four and six of each.

Red Bull Racing are bringing more sets of the medium tyre than most of their rivals, taking four of those, three softs and six supersofts.

Ferrari have gone with only one set of the hardest compound, five softs and seven supersofts.

The full list…

United States Pirelli tyre choice