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United States Grand Prix: Formula One live blog

22nd October, 2017
Where: Circuit of the Americas
When: 6am AEDT
Race length: 308.896 km (191.939 mi)
Circuit length: 5.516 km (3.427 mi)
First held: 1908
Laps: 56
Number of times held: 46
(Image supplied by AMG Petronas Motorsport).
Roar Guru
22nd October, 2017
79

The United States Grand Prix marks the beginning of the final quarter of the 2017 Formula One world championship, with the title itself hanging in the balance at this race. Join The Roar for a live blog from 6am AEDT.

Austin and its 5.5km Circuit of the Americas plays host to its sixth grand prix, which has largely been dominated by championship leader Lewis Hamilton, with four wins from five runnings.

There will be 56-laps during the race, across the highly technical Herman Tilke designed circuit.

59-points separate the two title protagonists in Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, with the Briton in a position where he can sew up his fourth title on U.S soil. If he wins the race and Vettel finishes lower than sixth, then Hamilton will be declared champion.

Similarly, Mercedes AMG are also on the precipice of sealing their fourth consecutive constructor’s championship, with a Silver Arrows win in Austin enough to deliver the trophy.

A supreme lap in qualifying saw Hamilton pole position, demonstrating how far above the Silver Arrows are of the competition – with a two-tenth margin to his title rival Vettel who was second fastest.

Vettel’s lap another solid effort to string together a respectable time, as the deficit to Mercedes AMG is once again quite vast.

The second row of the grid will be occupied by Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

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This weekend sees a few driver changes too, with Carlos Sainz replacing Jolyon Palmer at Renault and an impressive first qualifying sees him right into the top ten.

Sportscar ace Brendon Hartley in the Toro Rosso as Pierre Gasly is off in Japan for the Super Formula championship.

Hartley on his debut, is one of many drivers to take grid penalties for power-unit element changes. Also penalised are Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg and Stoffel Vandoorne.

Cooler temperatures during the race in comparison to the rest of the weekend, should see a one-stop strategy utilised. Though drivers starting from the rear with grid penalties, could gamble with alternate strategies.

As the title hangs in the balance, can Vettel from the front-row go head-to-head with Hamilton and prolong what appears an inevitable title outcome?

Tune in on The Roar from 6am AEDT for live blog coverage of what should be another cracking United States Grand Prix.

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