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.
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.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
So, the title looks as if it'll be wrapped up this time next week in Mexico. Please be sure to tune again on The Roar for live blog coverage of the Mexican Grand Prix. For this race however, thanks again for getting on board and I shall return at the same time next Monday morning. Have a great day!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 331 - Lewis Hamilton 265 - Sebastian Vettel 244 - Valtteri Bottas 192 - Daniel Ricciardo 163 - Kimi Räikkönen 123 - Max Verstappen 86 -- Sergio Perez 73 -- Esteban Ocon 54 -- Carlos Sainz 36 -- Nico Hulkenberg 34 -- Felipe Massa 32 -- Lance Stroll 28 -- Romain Grosjean 15 -- Kevin Magnussen 11 -- Stoffel Vandoorne 10 -- Fernando Alonso 8 --- Jolyon Palmer 5 --- Pascal Wehrlein 5 --- Daniil Kvyat 0 --- Marcus Ericsson 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Jenson Button
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 575 - Mercedes AMG 428 - Scuderia Ferrari 315 - Red Bull Racing 159 - Force India Mercedes 68 -- Williams Mercedes 53 -- Scuderia Toro Rosso 48 -- Haas Ferrari 42 -- Renault Sport 23 -- McLaren Honda 5 --- Sauber Ferrari
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Lewis Hamilton powered to a sixth win on American soil, emphatically winning the United States Grand Prix from pole position to extend his lead in the championship to 66-points. The Briton came under the threat at the start of the race when his title rival Sebastian Vettel made the better jump, to initially lead the race, before the Ferrari fell back into the clutches of the faster Mercedes AMG. A regulation one-stop strategy for Hamilton ensured him the victory, which also clinched the Silver Arrows their fourth consecutive constructor’s title, following another strong campaign which has yielded 11 wins. Vettel and Ferrari took the gamble late in the race to two-stop, following Max Verstappen’s trigger of coming in and running the supersofts in the final stint. In the end the German was fast enough only for second. The Dutchman’s race ended in controversy unfortunately, with his last lap overtake on Kimi Räikkönen, which had secured him third – being scrutinised by the stewards and subsequently given a 5-second time penalty, relinquishing the podium position to the Finn. Verstappen was found to have gone off the track and gained an advantage, in his spectacular move on the Ferrari. Despite the penalty, he still finished fourth after starting sixteenth with engine penalties, earning him the ‘driver of the day’ award. The one-stopper didn’t quite work out for Valtteri Bottas however, who ended up making a late stop for tyres after being relegated to fifth by Verstappen. Earlier in the race, Bottas enjoyed another epic wheel-to-wheel encounter with Daniel Ricciardo – who regrettably retired from the race with an engine failure. Carlos Sainz on his Renault debut made an immediate impression, coming home seventh closely behind Esteban Ocon in the Force India. The Spaniard from the outset was battling with multiple drivers in the top-ten, including his compatriot Fernando Alonso – before another Honda engine failure saw his race end. In eighth was a rather disappointed Sergio Perez, who rued his team’s decision to have not let him pass his teammate Ocon when Sainz was still behind. The Mexican then conceded seventh to the Renault and then was threatened for eighth from Felipe Massa and Daniil Kvyat, who scored a point in his Formula One return. Kiwi ace Brendon Hartley in his maiden outing secured thirteenth, following a two-stop race having started from near the rear of the grid with multiple penalties, not of his doing. Hartley’s race was compromised being stuck behind the Williams of Lance Stroll, though thirteenth was still an impressive result for the debutant. Hamilton’s ninth win of the season means that he is in a strong position to wrap up the title in seven days’ time at the Mexican Grand Prix. A result of fifth or higher will secure the Briton his fourth title.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR UPDATED STANDINGS AND RACE REPORT
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
PODIUM INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Usain Bolt HAMILTON - "I think now this track is my favourite track." "A big congratulations to the team." VETTEL - "At the start was looking good, but very quickly we realised we couldn't go at his [Lewis] pace." "Not the result we wanted." RÄIKKÖNEN - "I was pretty disappointed just after the race when I thought I finish fourth." "My car was very good all the way."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 56-LAP UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 S. Vettel 3 K. Räikkönen 4 M. Verstappen* 5 V. Bottas 6 E. Ocon 7 C. Sainz 8 S. Perez 9 F. Massa 10 D. Kvyat 11 L. Stroll 12 S. Vandoorne 13 B. Hartley 14 R. Grosjean 15 M. Ericsson 16 K. Magnussen RET F. Alonso RET D. Ricciardo RET P. Wehrlein RET N. Hulkenberg
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
5-SECOND TIME PENALTY FOR MAX VERSTAPPEN! And that's for going off the track and gaining an advantage over Kimi Räikkönen on the final lap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX As Mercedes AMG clinch their fourth consecutive constructor's championship. SEBASTIAN VETTEL comes home in second to keep the title fight alive. And a thrilling last lap overtake from MAX VERSTAPPEN sees the Red Bull finish on the podium, having started sixteenth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/56: Verstappen right up behind Kimi in the final sector and he sweeps past the Finn to snatch third!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/56: Last chance saloon for Verstappen to get that podium off Kimi. He started the race in P16, so a podium would be a result worthy of 'driver of the day'.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 56/56: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 55/56: 2 LAPS TO GO Verstappen 1.2 second behind Räikkönen and not within DRS range on this lap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 54/56: 3 LAPS TO GO The question is now whether Verstappen can catch and pass Kimi? The gap is just under 2 seconds.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/56: 4 LAPS TO GO Bottas in the pits then! Mercedes AMG might has well have, considering fifth is now guaranteed ahead of Ocon. The Force India is still ahead of Sainz in the Renault.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/56: Bottas forced off the track initially for the second time today, but after he rejoins we see the Red Bull get past and into fourth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/56: 5 LAPS TO GO "Seb is now the car behind," is the message from Ferrari to Kimi, as we see the German take second off his teammate going into Turn 1. Verstappen now all over the Silver Arrow of Bottas.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/56: Clean move from Vettel to get back into the podium places, as Bottas is relegated to fourth and now has to deal with Verstappen in his mirrors. The German is only 1.3 seconds behind his teammate Kimi. Lapped traffic everywhere.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/56: Vettel within DRS range then of Bottas. Could Ferrari employ a switch here too between their drivers, if Seb gets into third?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/56: 5-second time penalty then for Ericsson, for his part in the incident with Magnussen earlier. The penalty will be added to his overall race time at the end of the race.