Formula 1 – U.S Grand Prix – Preview

The Formula One championship heads to America this weekend for the U.S Grand Prix. Fans world-wide will be tuning into the coverage from Austin, Texas.

It will be the 48^th race held at the Circuits of the America’s racetrack, which has been a happy hunting ground for Lewis Hamilton, who will again this year start in pole position. Hamilton has won the race a record six times and will start alongside Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on the front row. It is the 81^st career pole for Hamilton, who posted a track-record lap of 1 minute, 32.237 seconds in qualifying on Saturday.

Vettel was only just behind Hamilton 0.061 seconds off the pace but was demoted to fifth position after receiving a three-spot grid penalty for driving too fast while under a red flag in a practice session. Hamilton leads Vettel by 67 points and only needs to find an extra eight points to give him an unassailable lead in the battle for the title, winning the U.S Grand Prix would almost assure Hamilton the overall win.

Hamilton has warned Ferrari and rival Vettel that he’s ready to “punch back” after some poor recent results. Ferrari have won nine races on the circuit and hope either Raikkonen or Vettel can make it 10. Speaking of 10, victory for Hamilton would make it his 10^th win of the season.

“We’ve not been getting ahead of ourselves. We have to do the same work as before,” said Hamilton, who has won on this track in five of the last six years.

Vettel has won at this track in 2013 and is the only driver that has beaten Hamilton since the new track opened in 2012. Vettel has a challenge ahead of himself, but he knows his car can compete with Mercedes.

After qualifying Vettel said, “It was a bit of a surprise to see how competitive we are today given how far we’ve been in the last few events.”

Australian Daniel Ricciardo will start his Red Bull car in fifth position, with only four races left of the season before he joins Nico Hulkenberg at Renault in 2019.

Starting Positions – U.S Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes
2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes
4. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari
5. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull
6. Esteban Ocon (FRA) Force India

Top Three overall driver standings

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes 331
2. Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari 264
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes 207