Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
Breaking down everything that goes down at the Circuit of the Americas
In the wake of a thrilling F1 Sprint Saturday, the Formula 1 grid roars back to live Sunday, with the United States Grand Prix from Austin./
Max Verstappen captured yet another race on Saturday, the F1 Sprint, adding yet another trophy to his expanding trophy case. The Red Bull driver has already captured his third-straight Drivers’ Championship, but if he is to pick up his 14th grand prix victory, he’ll need to make up a few spots on the track. After his final qualifying run on Friday was deleted for exceeding track limits, Verstappen will start the main event Sunday in in P6.
Starting up front? Charles Leclerc from Ferrari. He’ll have a great chance to pick up some critical points for Ferrari in their battle with Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship. However, he’ll have Lewis Hamilton just behind him, as the Mercedes driver is slated to start third.
Then there are a pair of drivers reaching some milestones today. When the lights go out both Lando Norris and George Russell will have started their 100th grand prix.
We’ll have it all covered for you this afternoon, as the race gets underway at 3:00 Eastern. So come back early and often!
All updates are in Eastern.
Photo by Clive Mason – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Pre-race notes
Update 9:06: Noted F1 analyst Albert Fabrega has today’s list of available tyre compounds for each driver, as well as a quick look at the likely strategies:
The most common strategies use two stops, with a combination of medium and hard tyres. There is a two-stop strategy that uses a set of softs right at the end, and teams that have a fresh set of softs — many of whom are starting at the back of the field — may go this route.
The boldest strategy may be a one-stopper, which would push a set of mediums, and then a set of hards, to the limit.
While medium-hard-medium might be the path for many teams, McLaren may have to look elsewhere. Both Norris and Oscar Piastri have just one fresh set of mediums at their disposal, and with each driver having a pair of hards for Sunday, McLaren might use the medium-hard-hard approach.
