Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – United States Grand Prix 2024

Round nineteen sees the beginning of the final leg of the season with six races in seven weeks across the Americas and Middle East in Austin, Texas. Since 2012 the Circuit of the Americas has become the home of the country’s national Grand Prix 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 it own unique Turn One.

The circuit name reflects the fact Austin is in the southern centre of the United States boarding 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.

Austin is one of the few circuits to run anti-clockwise, the circuit contains more left-hand turns than right-hand ones, placing greater physical demands on the drivers whose bodies, particularly their necks, are more adapted to the lateral g-forces of clockwise circuits. In recent years the US has seen record growth in the country with Miami and Las Vegas, which will end this leg of the season before the final two races in the Middle East.

The race is the oldest non-European Grand Prix being first held in March 1908 to European Regulations by the percussor 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 forty year hiatus.

Though the Indy 500 was by defacto the US Grand Prix in F1 between 1950 and 1957, the race was revived as a non-championship race in 1958. Then became the final race of the season, 1959 as the second race in the States briefly becoming the first country to host two world championship rounds. The first three years saw it alternate between riverside on the west coast and Sebring, Florida. Florida wouldn’t hold a race for sixty years until Miami joined in 2022.

The  1960s would see domination by the Brits, 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 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.

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 finished fifth which won him his second Drivers’ Championship.

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 champion the following season.

As the 1970s drew to a close the circuit started to deteriorate. Drivers began complaining about the bumpy track surface, and the teams and press were concerned over facilities, the lacklustre level of security and rowdy fans. It eventually dropped off the calendar and was replaced by several races in America going by city or state names.

Texas held its first race in 1984, but conditions in Dallas saw several drivers suffered 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 last season.

The US GP had 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.

The 1990 race Jean Alesi harrying Senna for several laps; the Tyrrell driver went on to finish second behind Senna. The circuit had to be changed for the 1991 race due to the construction of a new Phoenix Suns basketball arena, and the revised circuit was generally seen to be an improvement. Senna won the race from pole position.

The race then dropped off the calendar as plans for the Las Vegas street race wouldn’t materialize for another thirty years.

The race returned to Indianapolis in 2000, a newly built road course within the oval, that season saw a record attendance for a Grand Prix in America. Michael Schumacher took victory his fourth in a row allowing him to overtake Mikka Häkkinen as they both fought for their third championship, the German took victory and his third world championship.

2005 saw one of the most controversial race weekends 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.

Lewis Hamilton took back-to-back wins in 2007 and 2012, the seven-time champion win in 2007 followed a week after his first win in Montreal. Hamilton took victory ahead of his teammate Fernando Alonso the team’s first one-two since Häkkinen and David Coulthard in 2001. Sebastian Vettel took victory in 20113 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 a row after passing teammate Nico Rosberg on lap twenty-four before taking a four-second win. The following season despite 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.

2019 saw Valtteri Bottas take victory ahead of Hamilton, who wrapped his sixth. There was no race in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2021 Max 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 botch 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.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the United States Grand Prix, with six victories, including five out of the ten races held 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.
• In 2019, Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to clinch the Drivers’ Championship in the United States twice. He previously won the 2015 title at the Circuit of The Americas.
• Until 2021, Mercedes were the only team to have won more than once at the Circuit of The Americas. Red Bull took their second victory in Texas in 2021, having last won at the track 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.
• Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the 2023 United States Grand Prix after their cars failed post-race scrutineering checks. Hamilton had finished in second place, while Leclerc became the first polesitter to be disqualified from a race since Ralf Schumacher at the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix.

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

In GP Qualifying, Charles Leclerc set a 34.723 beating Lando Norris by a tenth and a half to take pole. Max Verstappen had been fastest but he had his lap deleted dropping him to sixth, while Norris was just a hundredth faster than the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, continuing McLaren’s strong second half of the season.

After missing out on Friday, Verstappen beat Leclerc by half a tenth to take sprint pole despite a spin through Becketts while Hamilton was again third. The Mercedes driver was only a hundredth and a half behind the Ferrari with seven hundredths between the top ten. Lando Norris fourth a quarter of a second ahead of teammate and Qatar sprint winner Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen beat Hamilton by eight seconds after holding off the Mercedes into the first corner with his performance making him look like the favourite for the Grand Prix. Leclerc was third eight seconds behind the Mercedes, the question going into the race was how close Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren could into the race on Sunday.

Verstappen once again beat Hamilton in the Grand Prix, taking his fiftieth win in F1 by two seconds after coming through from fifth and passing Norris and the Mercedes who 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.

However, Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were later disqualified for breaching Article 3.5.9 e) of the technical regulations. Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri was hit by Esteban Ocon as they justled in the opening stages, resulting in both retiring. For the Frenchman his third retirement in five races, after damaging the radiator of the McLaren.

What to watch for?

After the break everyone will be raring to go for the most crucial seven weeks in the season and with six races to go there is a lot to play for in the weeks ahead. The big question is it still going to be close between the top four as Red Bull we know has been on the back foot and hasn’t won a race in many months. It is a sprint weekend meaning there is less time to assess upgrades so they could wait until Mexico City next weekend.

Remember they haven’t won a race since Barcelona in June and as we know McLaren has taken the majority of victories shared largely with Mercedes. McLaren we know took the lead of the constructors in those races between the summer and Autumn break, also made a big decision in largely backing Lando Norris. But we might see more tighter grid given it’s also a sprint weekend.

Red Bull has been hoping that the break could allow them to rediscover the form to be able to at least be fighting at the front again, but their has been this brain drain coupled with restrictions given they are the champions. We have seen the car become in Max Verstappen’s words a “monster” to drive, you need a good car in Austin. Based on recent form McLaren is the team to beat and the fact both Norris and Oscar Piastri

Austin is a really good circuit for racing it’s a fast-flowing circuit where overtaking is possible and this could be difficult for teams who lack straight-line speed and downforce but it is a bumpy circuit so we may see issues with bouncing and being a hilly circuit we know that the ground the circuit built on land which shifts. But we always get great racing here because of opportunities for overtaking around COTA.

This could be a headache for Mercedes as we know while they have made huge progress over the last two years the bouncing issues can pop up occasionally but after two street circuits, they could be on top of these issues. If they can at similar circuits in Spielberg and Silverstone they were quick and won those races, so I am undecided on what that means for this weekend.

Ferrari have had an up-and-down season and I feel they have slipped back in terms of fighting at the front but it will have tried to resolve those issues over the break. If they have they along with Mercedes could create headaches for McLaren and Red Bull, given current form but it has been so up and down its been during the second half of the season.

After the break everyone will be raring to go for the most important and crucial seven weeks in the season and with six races to go there is a lot to play for in the weeks ahead. The big question is what upgrades are the teams are going to bring this weekend given it’s a sprint weekend so will they wait until Mexico when we are at the last traditional format until Abu Dhabi.

The final races are usually some of the best the ones we remember given we are still in the championship fight does that mean everyone will be more careful in races.

2023 vs 2022 Race Data

2023 Lap time comparison

Tyres