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It’s been five years since Formula One last raced in the USA but for the 19th and penultimate round of the 2012 season the series is returning to America this weekend for the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
The new Circuit of the Americas is a purpose-built 5.516km (3.4 mile), 20-turn, F1 standard facility located 15 miles outside downtown Austin and promises to provide teams with some interesting challenges, and spectators with some thrilling racing.
Chief among the challenges is, of course, the fact that no team has yet turned a wheel in anger here. Former F1 driver David Coulthard drove a Red Bull Racing showcar here when circuit construction had just begun and more recently Lotus test driver Jérôme D’Ambrosio piloted a 2010 Renault R30 on opening day at the track, but beyond those very different laps teams will only have simulator data upon which to base their weekend preparations.
That should make Friday’s free practice sessions labour-intensive workouts for the teams, though again it will present a challenge as the new track will undoubtedly be largely free of grip in the early stages of the weekend.
It means that the unknown of Austin represents the perfect wildcard for a championship that has become increasingly hard to call in recent weeks. After a dramatic race in Abu Dhabi, defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing leads Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by just 10 points, with a maximum of 50 on the table over the final two rounds. Kimi Raikkonen’s win in the UAE was a spectacular feat in his comeback year but even with that victory the Finn is now out of the title fight.
So it comes down to a head-to-head battle between the famous red of Ferrari and the blue of Red Bull Racing. And after recent events in the US, locals will know just how intense red versus blue showdowns can be! |
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CIRCUIT DATA
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS
Length of lap:
5.516km
Lap record:
None as yet
Start line/finish line offset:
Not yet available
Total number of race laps:
56
Total race distance:
305.355km
Pitlane speed limits:
60km/h during practice and qualifying, 100km/h during the race
DRS ZONE
The Circuit of the Americas will feature a single DRS Zone, on the back straight, between Turns 11 and 12. The activation zone is likely to be approximately 650m before Turn 12. |
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Fast Facts
► Made up of 11 left and nine right turns, the Circuit of the Americas is 5.516km (3.4 miles) long. It is one of just five current F1 circuits to run anti-clockwise, the others being Singapore, Korea, Abu Dhabi and Brazil. Curiously, all five circuits feature in the final seven-race stretch of the 2012 season.
► COTA’s track surface took four months to lay and the third and final layer was completed in late September. The final layer is made up of aggregate from all over Texas. All told, over 640,000 cubic metres of material have been used to construct the track.
► Race organisers are billing Turn One as the track’s signature corner. From the start/finish line the track rises 41m (133 feet) before heading into a tight and blind first-gear left-hand turn.
► Turns 2 and 3 pay tribute to the Senna ‘S’ at Brazil’s Interlagos, while turns 4-6 have been designed as an homage to the Maggots, Becketts, Chapel complex at Silverstone. Other recognisable elements include a section, from Turns 12-14, reminiscent of Hockenheim’s stadium section and the triple apex stretch through turns 16-18 has been modelled after Istanbul Park’s Turn 8.
► The first lap of the finished circuit was completed by legendary US racer Mario Andretti. In his 131-grand prix F1 career, Andretti raced in 11 US Grands Prix, seven races billed as the US GP West and both of the races held in Las Vegas, but recorded just one win on home soil. That was at the the USA West race at Long Beach in 1977 where, driving for Lotus, he finished ahead of Ferrari’s Niki Lauda and Wolf’s Jody Scheckter.
► Nine US circuits have previously hosted grands prix: Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Long Beach and most recently Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
► The last winner of a US Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton in 2007. Racing for McLaren in his rookie season, Hamilton scored pole position at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the following day took his second career win. His first victory had come a week earlier at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
► That 2007 US GP at Indianapolis was also notable in that, as well as seeing a future world champion win in Hamilton, it handed a race debut to another future title winner, Sebastian Vettel. The German replaced the injured Robert Kubica at the wheel of a BMW Sauber. Aged just 19, Vettel qualified in seventh position and finished eighth, for which he earned one point. In so doing, he became F1’s youngest ever points scorer, a record he still holds.
► In recent times Michael Schumacher, due to retire for a second time after next week’s Brazilian GP, has been the most successful driver at the US GP. In the period from 2000-2007, when the race was staged at Indianapolis, Schumacher won five of the eight events (2000 and ’03-’06). |
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United States GP
Race Stewards
Biographies
JOSÉ ABED
FIA VICE PRESIDENT
José Abed, an FIA Vice President since 2006, began competing in motor sport in 1961. In 1985, as a motor sport official, Abed founded the Mexican Organisation of International Motor Sport (OMDAI) which represents Mexico in the FIA. He sat as its Vice- President from 1985 to 1999, becoming President in 2003. In 1986, Abed began promoting truck racing events in Mexico and from 1986 to 1992, he was President of Mexican Grand Prix organising committee. In 1990 and 1991, he was President of the organising committee for the International Championship of Prototype Cars and from 1990 to 1995, Abed was designated Steward for various international Grand Prix events. Since 1990, Abed has been involved in manufacturing prototype chassis, electric cars, rally cars and kart chassis.
GARRY CONNELLY
DEPUTY PRESIDENT, FIA INSTITUTE
Garry Connelly has been involved in motor sport since the late 1960s. A long time rally competitor, Connelly was instrumental in bringing the World Rally Championship to Australia in 1988 and served as Chairman of the Organising Committee, Board member and Clerk of Course of Rally Australia until December 2002. He has been an FIA Steward and FIA Observer since 1989, covering the FIA’s World Rally Championship, World Touring Car Championship and Formula One Championship. He is a director of the Australian Institute of Motor Sport Safety, a member of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and in December 2011 was elected Deputy President of the FIA Institute.
EMERSON FITTIPALDI
DOUBLE F1 WORLD CHAMPION; CHAMP CAR CHAMPION
Emerson Fittipaldi, winner of 14 Formula One grands prix and two FIA World Drivers’ Titles, is this weekend’s driver representative on the FIA stewards’ panel. Now 65, Fittipaldi, racing for Team Lotus, became F1’s youngest ever champion in 1972 at the age of 25 years and 273 days (a record since beaten by Fernando Alonso in 2005, Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and Sebastian Vettel in 2010). In a decade-long Formula One career from 1970-1980, Fittipaldi scored 281 points, took six pole positions and scored six fastest laps. He won a second Drivers’ Championship in 1974 with McLaren. Fittipaldi later went on to a distinguished career in single seater racing here in the US, where he recorded two Indy 500 victories (in 1989 and 1993) and also a Champ Car title win in 1989.
United States GP
Championship Standings
(Drivers)
United States GP
Championship Standings
(Constructors)
United States GP
Formula One Timetable
& FIA Media Schedule
THURSDAY
Press Conference 11.00
FRIDAY
Practice Session 1 09.00-10.30
Practice Session 2 13.00-14.30
Press Conference 15.00
SATURDAY
Practice Session 3 09.00-10.00
Qualifying 12.00-13.00
Followed by unilateral and
press conference
SUNDAY
Drivers' Parade 11.30
Race 13.00-15.00
Followed by unilateral and
press conference
ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
QUALIFYING
All drivers eliminated in Q1 or Q2 are available for media interviews immediately after the end of each session, as are drivers who participated in Q3, but who are not required for the post-qualifying press conference. The location of the TV pen interview area will be near the media centre entrance.
RACE
Any driver retiring before the end of the race will be made available at each team’s garage/hospitality.
In addition, during the race every team will make available at least one senior spokesperson for interview by officially accredited TV crews. A list of those nominated will be made available in the media centre. |
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montymaxJoin Date: 2009-09-20
Post Count: 1462 |
I don't think we need to know this.
Yeah, it's the first US GP since '08 but oh well. |
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It is also a big race for Formula 1 as it tries (once again) to establish itself in the USA. This time we're in NASCAR central: Texas |
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montymaxJoin Date: 2009-09-20
Post Count: 1462 |
It's a nice track.
But, it feels more like a Time Trail track. The first sector is too thin for overtaking or decent racing, as is the last sector.
Still a brilliant track to drive round though. |
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Vettel is 1.4 seconds quicker than Hamilton in Free Prctice 1, with Alonso 3rd.
Oh dear
Second to last turn and the first turn catching LOTS of drivers out |
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racinghyJoin Date: 2009-07-28
Post Count: 18703 |
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Free Practice 1 results
1 Germany S Vettel Red Bull
2 Great Britain L Hamilton McLaren
3 Spain F Alonso Ferrari
4 Great Britain J Button McLaren
5 Australia M Webber Red Bull
6 Brazil F Massa Ferrari
7 Germany N Hulkenberg Force India
8 Japan K Kobayashi Sauber
9 Germany N Rosberg Mercedes
10 Mexico S Perez Sauber
11 Great Britain P Di Resta Force India
12 Australia D Ricciardo Toro Rosso
13 France J E Vergne Toro Rosso
14 Finland K Raikkonen Lotus
15 France R Grosjean Lotus
16 Venezuela P Maldonado Williams
17 Germany M Schumacher Mercedes
18 France C Pic Marussia
19 Finland H Kovalainen Caterham
20 Russia V Petrov Caterham
21 Germany T Glock Marussia
22 Brazil B Senna Williams
23 Spain P de la Rosa HRT
24 China Q Ma HRT |
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I actually wanted the USA Grand Prix to be at Monticello Motor Club in New York |
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Nah jg, Watkins Glen (w/ boot) |
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