Before you wake up at ungodly hour to follow the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend here’s your pictorial reminder of what went down in Austin last weekend.
With his tenth win of 2014 Lewis Hamilton became the winningest British driver in Formula 1 (to use the bastardised US vernacular). The 2008 world champ now has 32 career wins, one more than Nigel Mansell.
Here’s what the first three drivers in the United States Grand Prix had to say after this morning’s race. Not surprisingly there were a few questions about the double points coming up in Abu Dhabi. We can expect those questions to increase until the season climax in the middle east.
In some ways the best result in Brazil this weekend would be to see Nico win and Lewis have a retirement. That way the two drivers would go into the final race separated by a single point and the double points novelty is just that, a novelty and not the determining factor in who wins the championship.
Lewis Hamilton has extended his championship lead by winning the United States Grand Prix. With two races left he now enjoys a 24 point lead over his teammate, Nico Rosberg, who finished second in Austin.
Rosberg made a clean getaway from pole and held Hamilton at bay until around one third race distance. Once Hamilton took the lead he had Rosberg’s measure.
Finishing third was Daniel Ricciardo who dropped places after a poor start from P5. He fought his way back up the field through a combination of great on track driving and clean pit stops.
The Williams pairing of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished fourth and fifth. Ricciardo overtook Massa in the last round of tyre changes and opened up a small but comfortable gap. Massa came back late in the race but couldn’t get past the likeabkle Australian.
Fernando Alonso finished sixth ahead of a fast charging Sebastian Vettel who made a late change for fresh tyres and spiced up the latter part of the race with his charge through the pack. Kevin Magnussen, Jean-Eric Vergne and Pastor Maldonado rounded out the top 10.
Maldonado finished P9 on track but was given a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. He still finished in the points, the first time for him in 2014.
The F1 circus backs up next weekend in Sao Paulo before the double points novelty of Abu Dhabi closes out the season. Of course, that means Rosberg can easily close up that 24 point gap to Hamilton with a good drive or a stroke of luck.
However, Hamilton has won five races in a row now and has 10 wins for the year, compared with Rosberg’s four victories. It would be unjust if Hamilton didn’t win his second world title. And if that proves to be the case won’t the British F1 media mafia let it be known!
Here’s a very different view of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. It’s a drone’s eye view and gives us a good look at the circuit ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. It would be nice to see a repeat clip with the F1 circus in town, with all the added colour and scale that would bring.
[via WTF1]
A draft layout for the new United States Grand Prix track has been revealed by Tilke GmbH (click the above image for a larger version). The course has a US$200m budget and will be located at Austin, Texas. The first race is scheduled for the 2012 Formula One season.
The course runs in a counter-clockwise direction and contains 20 turns, many of which have been inspired by existing F1 tracks. Turns 3–6 are similar to the Maggots–Becketts section at Silverstone. Corners 12–15 are reminiscent of Hockenheim. While turn 8 and turns 16–18 are similar to sections of Istanbul Park.
Supposedly there are four ideal places for overtaking. Race promoter Tavo Hellmund, expects Turn 1 to be the track’s signature corner, “Everybody will pull out and probably go three-wide into that braking turn.”
[Source: American-Statesman]
UPDATE: Further information is now available from the Formula 1 United States website. Also included below is a new map of the circuit illustrating elevation changes.