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The US Grand Prix – Information, schedule and predictions

The US Grand Prix, the eighteenth race of the originally planned twenty-three, is scheduled for the weekend of October 20-22. What is the schedule and where can you follow the race weekend?

Published

1 year ago

19. 10. 2023

Tomáš Myšák

Zdroj: Chris Graythen, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

The US Grand Prix, the eighteenth race of the originally planned twenty-three, is scheduled for the weekend of October 20-22. What is the schedule of the weekend race and how are predictions?

The USA, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi – these are the last five destinations we’ll be looking at for this year’s F1 season.

The US Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas has been on the Formula 1 calendar since 2012, with the circuit shape designed by Hermann Tilke in collaboration with architecture firm HKS. And that year was the first Grand Prix on US soil since the Indianapolis race in 2007.

The first race in Austin was attended by 100,000 fans who witnessed Lewis Hamilton’s last victory in McLaren colours. The seven-time world champion switched to Mercedes the following year.

The fastest lap on this circuit is held by Charles Leclerc, who set a time of 1:36.169 in his Ferrari in 2019. The most recent winner is Max Verstappen in a Red Bull, joined on the podium last season by Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc.

The most victories at this circuit have been won by a Briton, Hamilton (5), in 2012 and 2014 to 2017. Apart from him, Sebastian Vettel came here for the first place in 2013, it should be noted, still in the colours of Red Bull. In the 2018, 2019 and 2021 seasons, the US Grand Prix was dominated by Kimi Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen.

Circuit of The Americas

The track itself is 5.513 km long and consists of twenty corners. Circuit of The Americas, as the official name of the circuit is, offers two DRS zones. The first is located in the start/finish area, the second on the straight between turns 11 and 12.

So there are two detection points on the track. The Formula One Grand Prix of the United States is a standard 56-lap race, during which the drivers will cover over 308 kilometres.

But in addition to the detection points, you can also see the average speeds that the drivers reach in each corner, as well as what gear they usually shift into in that corner.

Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1

US Grand Prix – programme

The Formula 1 cars will take to the track for the first time on Friday, October 20, at 19:30, as part of the first practice session (officially called Free Practice 1 – ed.). This will last the standard one hour.

Fans of NHL hockey are certainly used to similar times, but for the F1 fan, the times of the rest of the race weekend will be a treat. And with the US Grand Prix being another of several sprint weekends this season, qualifying will also be run on Friday.

That, of course, will determine the starting order for Sunday’s race and will begin at 23:00. On Saturday, the Sprint Shootout, a qualifying session, is scheduled to determine the order for the start of the sprint race. This is scheduled for midnight.

The race is scheduled, of course, as usual for Sunday, October 22. All five lights will go out at 21:00 sharp.

US Grand Prix – odds and predictions

It should be noted that the thirty-three-year-old Mexican is certainly not in ideal form and although the race weekends in the USA and Mexico are the most popular on the F1 calendar for him, he will not be the favourite to win.

But the same cannot be said for both McLaren drivers (Lando Norris – odds 11, Oscar Piastri – odds 13). The Woking-based stable has made incredible progress this year and will be looking to build on that success after podiums in Qatar and Japan.

Whether it will be enough for Norris or Piastri to overcome Verstappen is questionable. However, current predictions from the simulator suggest McLaren will be the second fastest team in Austin. In terms of race speed, Ferrari should be third, Mercedes fourth.

Of course, these predictions will have to be taken into account when betting on qualifying or sprinting. But as far as the race itself is still concerned, there is a tempting offer of odds for Norris (1.70) and Piastri (1.90) to add variety to the slip just to finish third.

In terms of betting on finishing in 6th place, it would probably be worth trying the odds on Charles Leclerc (1.60) or Carlos Sainz (1.70).