Track: Circuit of the Americas
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 3.4 miles (5.5km)
Race Length: 191.9 miles (308.9km)
Start Time: 19:00 GMT
Fastest Lap: 1:35.657 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing-Renault, 2012)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:39.347 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing-Renault, 2012)
2014 Pole Position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 1:36.067, Soft Tyres
2014 Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas
Tyre Compounds: Soft, Medium, Intermediate, Wet
First F1 Grand Prix (Country): 1950
First F1 Grand Prix (Track): 2012
Most Wins (Country/Track): Michael Schumacher (5)/Lewis Hamilton (2), Ferrari (9)/McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes (1)
Lewis Hamilton can wrap up his third world title this weekend if he scores nine more points than Sebastian Vettel. The most likely scenario for this to happen is with Lewis winning and Seb coming home third or lower, which has occurred four times already this season.
The Brit will not have it all his own way. He has missed out on pole at the last three races, with two of them going to his teammate Nico Rosberg. The eleven-time race winner knows he is all but out of the title race and has said he is ‘looking for fun’ going into the last four races of the year.
Sergio Perez took a surprise podium two weeks ago after Kimi Raikkonen crashed into Valtteri Bottas on the final lap. Both he and the team will be looking to build on the great result as the Mexican Grand Prix follows in a week’s time. The Force India B-Spec car has been a strong midfield runner since its introduction at Silverstone, but Nico Hulkenberg has still not been able to claim his maiden podium.
Williams have not had that strong a string of results this year, taking only three podiums so far. With the season nearing its conclusion, both Bottas and Massa will be looking to make amends for the various incidents they have had at the last two races to put the fastest car in a straight line back on the rostrum.
Alexander Rossi returns to the Manor cockpit this weekend to become the first American driver to participate in his home race since Scott Speed in 2007. The 24 year old was confirmed as GP2 runner up in Sochi and is fighting for his F1 future, with only his current team thought to be considering him for a race seat. In his previous two outings, he has finished ahead of teammate Will Stevens.
The United States Grand Prix could prove to be the race that decides Red Bull’s future in the sport. Renault have finally used their 11 engine tokens for the season. If Red Bull and Toro Rosso want to access the improved power unit, they will have to start from the back due to their engine penalties. It will be interesting, though, to see how much progress the French manufacturer has been able to make in regards to the vastly superior Mercedes and Ferrari systems.
