American GP Thread - Contains Spoilers - Sponsored by Sergio Perez's book on how to get F***ed over by Mclaren in 19 easy steps

[Fernando]

First topic message reminder :



For the penultimate race of the 2013 season, Formula One makes it way to Texas and Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, the second time the sport has visited the 5.513km track.

Immediately popular with most F1 drivers on its inauguration last year, the counter-clockwise circuit is an intriguing blend of corner types, with sections modelled on famous stretches of some of the world’s most celebrated grand prix tracks.

The first sector in particular was singled out for praise by many drivers due to the challenge presented by its first corner, approached up a steep hill and featuring a blind apex, and because of the rapid changes of direction through turns four to six, said to resemble the Maggots-Becketts complex at Silverstone.

Sector two contains a long straight ending in a good overtaking opportunity at Turn 12, while the final sector is a more technical stretch similar in style to Hockenheim’s stadium section and the tricky Turn 19, a downhill medium-speed left-hander which many branded the toughest corner on the track to get right.

Last year’s race was notable for high track evolution over the weekend and cold weather that made getting tyres up to optimum working temperature difficult.

With Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull Racing team untouchable in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships attention turns to the runners-up spots, particularly in the teams’ competition. There, Mercedes, on 334 points, have an 11-point lead over Ferrari. However, the momentum is marginally with the Silvers Arrows, who have scored 67 points over the last four races compared with the Prancing Horse’s 49.

In the driver’s battle, with third-placed Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus set to miss the final two rounds of the season, second-placed Fernando Alonso of Ferrari looks certain to claim the runners-up spot.

Facts

Including Austin, Formula One has staged races at 10 different venues in the United States. Indianapolis Motor Speedway kicked things off with races from 1950-1960 and then staged the US GP again from 2000-2007. Following Indianapolis’ first stint, F1 World Championship races have also been held at Sebring (1959), Riverside (1960), Watkins Glen (1961-’80), Long Beach (1976-’83), Las Vegas (1981-’82), Detroit (1982-’88), Dallas (1984) and Phoenix (1989-’91).

Alan Jones is the only driver to win at more than two US venues. The Australian racer took his first victory on American soil at the 1980 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and the following year he won races at Long Beach and Las Vegas. All three triumphs were achieved at the wheel of Williams cars.

Lewis Hamilton is the only current driver to have won at more than one US circuit. The Briton took his second grand prix victory at the 2007 race in Indianapolis and landed his 21st win at last year’s inaugural Austin event. On both occasions he was driving for McLaren.

Michael Schumacher is the most successful Formula One driver at races designated as the United States Grand Prix. The seven-time champion won five times at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in 2000 and from 2003-’06. The German’s 2005 win was notorioulsy scored at the grand prix with the fewest starters in F1 history. Just six cars raced the ’05 event after questions over tyre safety caused the withdrawal of 14 cars.

Next on the list of biggest winners are Jim Clark and Graham Hill, with three wins each. The pair dominated the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen for a six-year spell in the 1960s, with Clark winning in 1962 and then claiming back-to-back victories in 1966-’67. Hill, meanwhile, rattled off a hat-trick of wins from 1963-’65.

Ayrton Senna is the most successful driver at multiple US venues. The three-time Formula One champion took two United States Grand Prix wins in 1990 and 1991 in Phoenix. He also won the Detroit Grand Prix three times from 1986-’88.

The driver’s race steward is 1992 F1 Champion, and 1993 CART Champion, Nigel Mansell. From 187 grand prix starts Nigel Mansell took 32 pole positions, 31 victories and 28 other podium finishes. He raced for Team Lotus, Williams, Ferrari and McLaren, winning the FIA Formula One World Champion in 1992 with Williams. The following season Mansell took a sabbatical from Formula One and raced in the CART championship. He become the first rookie to win that title and the only man to hold the Formula One and CART titles simultaneously. He returned to Formula One with Williams in 1994, taking part in four races, and scored the final win of his F1 career at the season-ending Australian Grand Prix. He briefly moved to McLaren in 1995 before retiring from F1 midway through the season.

Though California’s Alexander Rossi will take part in this weekend’s first practice session, the last US driver to start a home grand prix was Scott Speed in 2007. Driving for Toro Rosso, he started 20th and finished 13th at Indianapolis. Speed made his GP weekend debut with Red Bull Racing at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2005 in a practice session and made his race debut for Toro Rosso the following year in the opening round in Bahrain. He made 29 more starts for Toro Rosso before losing his race seat after the 2007 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. His replacement? None other than four-time champion elect Sebastian Vettel.

If Vettel wins this weekend, he will take the outright record for most consecutive wins in a single season. Vettel currently has seven wins in a row to his credit, the same number as seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, and ’50s legend Alberto Ascari.

Schedule

Practice 1 Friday 15:00 GMT
Practice 2 Friday 19:00 GMT
Practice 3 Saturday 15:00 GMT
Qualifying Saturday 18:00 GMT
Race Sunday 19:00 GMT

Source:RaceDepartment.com

[Fernando]

It was a general observation DW everyone complains whichever way Pirelli do it.

[dyrewolfe]

Fair enough.

My two cents' worth is that, with KERS and DRS to assist overtaking, having harder tyres and teams making fewer stops wouldn't be such an issue. If anything, it ought to encourage more on-track racing...thats assuming they don't result in more peversely anti-racing strategies...

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