Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Formula 1 has set the scene for the United States Grand Prix with a pair of atmospheric images from the Circuit of The Americas, hours before the cars take to the track for a weekend that could see Kimi Antonelli crowned world champion.
The sport’s official X account posted the images early on Friday (Oct 23) Austin time, with the simple caption “COTA 📍🇺🇸” and the hashtags #F1 and #USGP. One shows the Stars and Stripes rippling against a clear blue sky, while the other captures the low sun breaking through the clouds over the circuit, silhouetting a pedestrian bridge and fencing above a trackside wall lined with TAG Heuer branding, with bold white markings painted on the asphalt in the foreground.
The quiet scenes will soon give way to the noise of a full race weekend. First practice runs from 12.30pm to 1.30pm local time on Friday, followed by second practice from 4pm to 5pm. Third practice is at 12.30pm on Saturday before qualifying at 4pm, and the 56-lap Grand Prix starts at 3pm on Sunday (Oct 25). In Malaysia, that puts first practice at 1.30am on Saturday, qualifying at 5am on Sunday and the race at 4am on Monday (Oct 26).
The timetable is packed around the Formula 1 sessions. According to the official schedule, F1 Academy will hold an Opening Race on Friday evening, a Reverse Grid Race on Saturday and a Feature Race on Sunday, with Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Masters Historic races also on the bill. MotoGP machinery will take to the track on Friday and Saturday, and the drivers’ parade is scheduled for 1pm on Sunday ahead of the national anthem.
Opened on Oct 21, 2012, when 1978 world champion Mario Andretti completed the first laps in his title-winning Lotus 79, the Circuit of The Americas was designed by Hermann Tilke in collaboration with American architectural firm HKS. Lewis Hamilton won the first Grand Prix there in 2012, his last victory for McLaren before he moved to Mercedes.
The 5.513-kilometre anti-clockwise circuit has 20 corners, 11 left and nine right, and about 41 metres of elevation change. Its signature corner is Turn 1, nicknamed “Big Red” after the late Texas businessman and early COTA investor Red McCombs, a blind, tight left-hander at the top of a steep climb from the start line that has produced plenty of first-lap drama. Several sections borrow from classic circuits, with Turns 3 to 6 echoing the high-speed sweeps of Silverstone and Suzuka and Turns 12 to 15 recalling Hockenheim’s stadium section. The lap record of 1:36.169 was set by Charles Leclerc in 2019.
This year the backdrop carries extra weight. Antonelli arrives in Texas on 340 points, 102 clear of his Mercedes team-mate George Russell on 238, with Ferrari’s Hamilton third on 229 and Max Verstappen fourth on 221. The 20-year-old Italian will be crowned in Austin if he wins the race with Russell ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower, which would make him the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history, beating the record Sebastian Vettel set in 2010.
Antonelli has played down the chances of it all being settled on Sunday, saying it would need “a perfect weekend” and a poor result for his rivals, and if the title does not come in Texas, the Mexico City Grand Prix follows next weekend. The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2113556282405765336.
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