Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – United States Grand Prix 2025

Round nineteen brings F1 to the Lone Star state and its capital, Austin, for the United States Grand Prix. The country’s first purpose-built F1 circuit became the home ‘national’ race in 2012, and is one of the best circuits for overtaking and we have seen some brilliant races.

The 3.426-mile Circuit of the Americas or COTA was created from scratch in the early 2010s and drew on inspiration from some of the best corners from around the world, but it doesn’t make Austin feel like a jumbled up of circuits. It creates a circuit which drivers enjoy, such as Maggots and Becketts (Silverstone), The Stadium Section/Sach, Parabolica and Hairpin (Hockenheim), Diabolica/Turn Eight (Istanbul), and its own unique Turn One.

The circuit name reflects the fact that Austin is in the southern centre of the United States, bordering Mexico, a mix of cultures from the US, Texas and Mexico. Austin is not only the state capital and county seat of Trivas, but also the hub for many festivals, including COTA. The nature of Austin makes it perfect for the sprint format, long straights and fast following sections through Maggots and Becketts.

Austin is a circuit which drivers love because of its corners and overtaking opportunities. In the eleven races we have seen over the last twelve years, there has been close racing between drivers and the odd surprise win. Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver, with five of his six US GP wins being at COTA.

The races is the oldest non-European Grand Prix being first held in March 1908, under European Regulations by the precursor to the FIA. The pre-war years say the race held in Savannah, Georgia, which had staged two days of successful stock car races on March 18 and 19, 1908, won the rights to stage the event.

The following year, the championship would not be formed until 1925, before evolving into F1 for drivers in 1950 and constructors in 1957. Despite the success of the Savannah event, it was decided that the 1909 race would be held on Long Island, in conjunction with the Vanderbilt Cup. The American entry into WWI in 1917 saw the race go on a forty-four-year hiatus.

Though the Grand Prix wouldn’t become a championship round until 1959, the Indy 500 during the 1950s acted as the US GP. The country became the first to host two championship rounds alternating between Riverside on the West Coast and Florida, which now hosts the Miami Grand Prix.

In the 1960s, the Brits would dominate the race  Innes Ireland taking victory and the first for Team Lotus after finishing over four seconds ahead of Dan Gurney. followed by Jim Clark in 1962, then Graham Hill for the next three years.

Hill’s 1964 win gave him the advantage going to the final race in Mexico City. Clark would take his only win of the 1966 season at The Glenn and again, the following Mario Andretti would take his maiden pole in 1968.

Jochen Rindt and Emerson Fittipaldi won their first win in 1969 and 1970, respectively. Fittipaldi’s win would be on only his fourth start, after Stewart retired his new Tyrrell and Fittipaldi, driving a Lotus, held off a charge from Mexican Pedro Rodriguez in a BRM. Following Rindt’s death in qualifying at Monza, Fitipaldi’s win in his fourth start was emotional.

Louts withdrew from Montreal, with the Austrian’s closest championship contender, Jacky Ickx did not score enough points to keep him in contention, the Drivers’ Championship was won by Rindt posthumously, and Lotus also won the Constructors’.

During the 1970s and 2010s, the race was often one of the title deciders, one memorable one being in 1974 between Regazzoni and Fittpladi, with whoever finished higher would take the championship. Regazzoni had issues with his Ferrari and dropped out of the points, allowing Fittipaldi to finish fifth, which won him his second Drivers’ Championship.

Though in the post-COVID era, the race has lost that status as a title decider because of the calendar extension and it has become the first race of the Autum Americas leg.

In 1976, the penultimate race of the season saw James Hunt take victory and close the gap to Niki Lauda going into the final race in Fuji. The Englishman won again, closing the gap after being Mario Andretti by two seconds. Andretti would be the champion the following season.

In the late 1970s, the circuit began to break up, and the FIA ruled that the circuit was unsafe, though after a bailout by FOM, the final race was held in 1980, won by Alan Jones, despite him going off at the first corner

Texas held its first race in 1984, but conditions in Dallas saw several drivers suffer with the heat, with Nigel Mansell leading most of the race before his car had a gearbox failure metres from the finish line. As he tried to push his car across the line, he collapsed from heat exhaustion.

The race titled United States Grand Prix then largely dropped off the calendar until 2000, with all races going by city or state names. These included Long Beach, Detroit, Dallas and Las Vegas, which returned in 2023. Texas held its first Grand Prix in 1984, but was plagued by problems with the track surface, exacerbated by extremely hot 104 °F (40 °C) July weather, which is why the race is currently held in mid to late October.

A brief revival in the early 1990s in Phoenix, but the street circuit proved unpopular as it was made up entirely of second-gear 90-degree corners and provided nearly no driving challenge or exciting corners to watch cars go around. The circuit was less bumpy and wider than Detroit, and its long straights made it easy to overtake and difficult to judge braking.

McLaren’s team dominated all three years, with Alain Prost winning in 1989 and Ayrton Senna in 1990 and 1991. The 1989 race saw Prost win his only Grand Prix in the United States by taking advantage of Senna’s engine electronics problems.

For most of the 2000s, Indianapolis returned with a road course built within the famous Motor Speedway. Michael Schumacher’s win was his second of four straight to end the season as he overtook Mika Häkkinen for his third Championship. In 2001, the race took place less than three weeks after the 9/11 attacks in the US, and many teams and drivers featured special tributes to the USA on their cars and helmets and saw McLaren driver Häkkinen take his last Grand Prix win.

Schumacher battled with teammate Rubens Barrichello following the events at the Red Bull Ring, as it’s now called, where Barrichello maintained the lead through most of the race until Ferrari invoked team orders on him to allow Schumacher to win the race on the final lap. Repaying the favour, the German attempted to engineer a dead heat with Barrichello.

2005 saw one of the most controversial races in sports history, regarded as a farce. Known as ‘IndyGate’ all the Michelin-supplied teams were forced to withdraw after a series of tyre failures through the final corner because of tyre failures. Of the six starters, Schumacher was the eventual winner, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second.

While  Tiago Monteiro claimed his only Formula One podium finish by finishing a lap down on the winner Schumacher in third place for Jordan. Two more races were held at IMS, Schumacher taking victory for the fourth year in a row, with Lewis Hamilton taking his second win a week after his maiden win in Montreal in 2007.

After a five-year hiatus as the sport searched for a new home, the race returned to Texas with the first purpose-built F1 circuit in Austin. The race has found a home at a circuit which feels very much like a European race but with a Texan twist, with Hamilton taking back-to-back wins and what was his final win for McLaren as he finished almost seven tenths ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

The German took victory in 2013, finishing six seconds ahead of Romain Grosjean on his way to a then record-breaking nine wins in a row. 2014 and the beginning of the hybrid era saw the beginning of Mercedes and Hamilton dominating the race, taking his fifth win in a row after passing teammate Nico Rosberg on lap twenty-four, before taking a four-second win.

The following season, despite the disruption caused by Hurricane Patricia, Hamilton once again passed Rosberg in the latter stages, thereby securing a third title. The abandonment of Q3 on Saturday due to the weather lead to an accident-packed race in mixed conditions only twelve cars reach the finish line, with Max Verstappen repeating his best result of the season in fourth and Jenson Button finishing a season-best sixth.

Kimi Raikkonen’s final win of his career came in 2018. The Finn made a one-stop race work, setting a record for the number of races between wins, having last won in Melbourne at the start of 2013, a hundred and thirteen races previous. It was also Ferrari’s first win at COTA and the first in the US since 2006.

Valtteri Bottas won from pole, finishing four seconds ahead of Hamilton as he wrapped up his sixth title. While Hamilton held off Verstappen, finishing just over a second behind as he secured a hundredth and fiftieth podium.

In 2021, Verstappen had put pressure on him in the closing stages, but his charge was halted when Kevin Magnussen had a brake failure on the final lap.

Verstappen won again following a race-long battle with Hamilton in 2022, beating him by three seconds. Although Mercedes looked defenceless to stop Verstappen which wasn’t helped by a botched pit stop, which allowed Mercedes into the closing stages. He then lunged passed Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, taking the lead with three laps to go.

Charles Leclerc was third after recovering from a ten-place grid penalty for a power unit change, giving Ferrari a podium after teammate Sainz’s retirement. The safety cars allowed him to gain positions in the pit stops and jump both Perez and Russell.

2023 saw Verstappen finish the sprint eight seconds and the Grand Prix two seconds ahead of Hamilton. As he took his fiftieth career win after coming through from fifth and passing Norris and the Mercedes, which was suffering from a braking issue. It was a measured drive by Verstappen as he picked his way through the field from sixth, but fighting the two Brits wasn’t as easy. Mercedes and McLaren put up a robust defence to Verstappen, but Red Bull appeared not to have the same pace as earlier in the season.

Race & Circuit Guide

Round		19 of 24
Race		Formula 1 MSC Cruises United States Grand Prix 2025
Venue		Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas
Configuration		2012 Grand Prix
Circuit Length		3.426 mi (5.513 km)
Sprint	Laps	19
	Race Distance	104.747km (65.094m)
Grand Prix	Laps	57
	Race Distance	308.405km (191.634mi
Lap Record	Race	01:36.169 (Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF90, 2019)
	Outright	01:32.020 (Sergio Perez, Red Bull – Honda RB20, 2024)
Most wins drivers		Sir Lewis Hamilton (6)
Most wins manufacture		Ferrari (10)

Fast facts

• Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the United States Grand Prix, with six victories, including five at Circuit of The Americas! He recently overtook Michael Schumacher in the list of most United States Grand Prix wins, who recorded five victories at Indianapolis between 2000-2006.
• Until 2021, Mercedes was the only team to have won more than once at Circuit of The Americas. Red Bull took their second victory in Texas in 2021, having last won at the track in 2013. Ferrari have also won here twice.
• No American driver has won the United States Grand Prix when it was part of the F1 World Championship, though Mario Andretti did win the 1977 US Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California.
• Sebastian Vettel made his F1 debut at the United States Grand Prix (Indianapolis) in 2007. He recorded one victory stateside in 2013.
• Circuit of The Americas is one of the hilliest tracks on the current Formula 1 calendar, with a difference of 30.9 meters between the lowest and highest points.
• Kimi Raikkonen won the 2018 US Grand Prix after a 114-race win drought, the longest such drought in F1 history!

Event timetable

What happened in 2024?

FP saw Carlos Sainz led a Ferrari one-two with a 33.602 to put himself two hundredths ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen put his Red Bull third fastest, going two tenths behind the two Ferraris, as he went third ahead of the two McLarens, Lando Norris fourth despite going too deep at Turn Twelve and Oscar Piastri aborting his lap after going wide at Nineteen. The two title rivals covered by just over a hundredth but were over a quarter of a second behind the Ferraris.

Sprint qualifying saw Verstappen beat Russell to pole by just over a hundredth, followed by George Russell, Leclerc and his title rival Norris. Verstappen’s teammate and Piastri were both knocked out in SQ2, Russell had looked on his final run if SQ3 on course for pole after fining seven tenths from his previous best.

Verstappen went on to win the sprint finishing four seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz as he took his first win since June. The Red Bull driver converted his pole position into a lead at the first corner and was able to keep Norris at bay for the full 19 laps. Norris was third, finishing two seconds behind his former teammate having locked up and hugged the apex at Turn One, allowing Sainz into second.

Norris held onto third by the skin of his teeth, nearly coming to blows with Leclerc at Turn Fifteen on the final lap as the Ferrari driver was surprised by his early braking into the tight left-hander. The incident will be investigated by the stewards as potential erratic driving.

GP qualifying saw Norris beat Verstappen to pole by three-hundredths after the final runs were aborted after Russell crashed. The Dutchman had produced a quick first sector and appeared in with a strong chance of improving the leading time, while Norris seemed unlikely to better his earlier effort after failing to match his previous time for the first part of the lap.

Leclerc made a lightning start from fourth where he passed Sainz, Verstappen and Norris, He allowed Leclerc and Sainz to take control of the race from the very start; they soon were able to break the DRS early on before pulling away despite the early safety car where he was able to pull away from his teammate. Ferrari looked in the mix all weekend and delivered a strong result, their first one-two in America since the controversial race at Indianapolis in 2005.

Verstappen was third just under a second ahead of title rival Lando Norris on track; however, their scrap, where the McLaren driver was deemed to have forced Verstappen wide and breached track limits for the third time saw him awarded a five-second penalty, which saw him drop to fourth.

Before the incident at Turn Twelve, the two rivals had fought each other hard and cleanly, with it all bubbling over the final few laps. McLaren’s driver refused the instruction to give the place back thus not getting a penalty, while Verstappen complained that his rival had to give the place back, the stewards agreed and gave him the five-second penalty, dropping him behind the Dutchman as he was only four seconds ahead.

Championship Standings

What to watch for?

Last time out in Singapore, McLaren sealed the constructor’s championship, and with five weekends after this one the big question is how they manage the fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. They haven’t yet secured the driver’s championship with Max Verstappen and George Russell, mathematically in the fight, though the feeling is that they will do it, but it will go all the way to Qatar or Abu Dhabi.

McLaren haven’t won the last two races, but in Austin we are coming back to a more traditional permanent circuit, which I think has characteristics to places where they have been the team to beat this season. It’s a fast-flowing high high-downforce circuit with its straights and corners. It will be interesting to see which driver is the stronger, as at this key moment in the season, momentum is so important over the remaining six races.

Austin we know, is a brilliant race circuit and we often see very close battles, overtaking throughout the race, meaning given how tight it is across the top and midfield teams anything can happen. But this circuit is challenging as it tests drivers because of the variety of corners and straights we have here, meaning teams need to balance the long straights with the twisty final sector.

You can never truly count out Verstappen, but all the drivers need to be on it from FP1, this being the only practice session for the weekend. I think they would have had a bit of that mentally in Singapore and we know if the car is there, Verstappen can create headaches for McLaren, but to me that seems unlikely.

Mercedes won the last race in Singapore, but I don’t feel this is a circuit where they can be in the mix for victory because of George Russell’s win in Singapore. He still doesn’t have a contract finalised for 2026, so we could hear in the build-up to this weekend something as this has dragged on all year. Mercedes have continued to struggle at these high speed and downforce circuits.

2023 vs 2024 Race Data

20xx Lap time comparison

Tyres