United States GP 2016 Preview: Start Time, TV Info, Weather, Schedule, Odds
Sandwiched around a Taylor Swift concert this weekend is the fifth running of the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
Lewis Hamilton, a three-time winner in the Lone Star state, arrives in desperate need of his first victory since the German Grand Prix at the end of July. The world champion sits 33 points behind his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, with four races remaining this season.
Of course, the big question on everyone's mind is not whether Hamilton will win the race, but whether he will speak to the press after a frosty weekend at Suzuka. And we might not have to wait long to find out, as he will appear at the Thursday press conference, according to Sky Sports.
Forget the race and even Taylor Swift; the media briefing could be the highlight of the weekend, particularly if both sides continue to push each other's buttons.
On a more serious note, at this time last year, the U.S. Grand Prix itself looked to be in trouble. Following on the heels of a rain-affected weekend, state officials announced that public funding for the race would be cut.
"To use a technical term, I think we're screwed,"ย COTA chairman Bobby Epstein told theย Austin American-Statesman's Eric Dexheimer at the time.
Now, the race's future looks more stable. When the FIA, Formula One's governing body, released a provisional 2017 calendar in September, only Canada, Germany and Brazil were listed as "subject to confirmation."
That is good news for the sportโand its new American ownersโas they try to grow F1's share of the American market. The Austin race is already popular with drivers and fans, and the track is a spectacular setting for a grand prix.
Keep reading for a full race-weekend preview, includingย TV times, championship standings, a circuit map and guide, tyre andย DRSย information, weather forecast, oddsย and session times.
Current Standings
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Rosberg can clinch his first title by finishing second at each of the last four races, no matter what Hamilton does. You can bet he would like to finish the season in style, though, with a few more wins.
Meanwhile, with Ferrari's season spiralling downwards, Kimi Raikkonen now leads Sebastian Vettel by five points in the drivers' standings.
Vettel's recent disappointing performances prompted team principal Maurizio Arrivabene to muse to Sky Sports Italia (h/t F1i.com's Chris Medland) that nothing is guaranteedโeven for a four-time world championโif he is not delivering results.
Here are the top 10 drivers heading into the U.S. Grand Prix:
| Position ย ย ย ย ย ย | Driver ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย | Points ย ย ย ย ย |
| 1. | Nico Rosberg | 313 |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | 280 |
| 3. | Daniel Ricciardo | 212 |
| 4. | Kimi Raikkonen | 170 |
| 5. | Max Verstappen | 165 |
| 6. | Sebastian Vettel | 165 |
| 7. | Valtteri Bottas | 81 |
| 8. | Sergio Perez | 80 |
| 9. | Nico Hulkenberg | 54 |
| 10. | Felipe Massa | 43 |
On the constructors' side, Mercedes clinched their third straight title in Japan, but there are stillย a few battles ragingย behind them in the standings with financial implications for the teams involved.
Here is the table for the constructors' championship:
| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mercedes | 593 |
| 2. | Red Bull | 385 |
| 3. | Ferrari | 335 |
| 4. | Force India | 134 |
| 5. | Williams | 124 |
| 6. | McLaren | 62 |
| 7. | Toro Rosso | 47 |
| 8. | Haas | 28 |
| 9. | Renault | 8 |
| 10. | Manor | 1 |
| 11. | Sauber | 0 |
Circuit of the Americas
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The Circuit of the Americas has quickly established itself as a modern classic, with an exciting combination of long straights, challenging turns and elevation changes.
The 5.513-kilometre, Hermann Tilke-designed track has 20 corners, including that spectacular first turn at the top of the hill.
"The track in Austin is sick; I love it," Daniel Ricciardo said, per Red Bull's race preview. "It has a lot of unique features like the wide apex at turn one; you could fit about four cars side by side through there. There are loads of opportunities to overtake and have fun throughout the whole track. It has fast flowing sections and hairpins, pretty much everything I like in a track."
Check out the F1 circuit guide video to see a lap from a driver's perspective.
Turns 1 and 2
Turn 1 is COTA's signature corner. From the start/finish line, the drivers climb uphill before braking and turning into the wide, hairpin turn. The corner is taken at about 90 km/h and, despite all the space on the outside, it can become quite congested, with all the drivers aiming for the same apex point.
The cars then blast downhill, coming to the quick, right-hand Turn 2, taken at approximately 230 km/h in fifth gear.
Turns 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
This seemingly endless left-right-left section is reminiscent of the "S" curves at the beginning of the lap in Suzuka or the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel complex at Silverstone. The drivers take Turn 3 at about 285 km/h, losing speed throughout the section and eventually hitting Turn 9 at approximately 165 km/h.
"The start-finish with the big climb at the end is pretty notable then there's a fast and flowing section that followsโand that's pretty fun," Kevin Magnussen explained in Renault's race preview. "It's a good layout that has quite a few different challenges and we have seen some decent racing there"
Turns 10, 11 and 12
Turn 10 is a flat-out, downhill kink, taken in sixth gear at 260 km/h. After that comes a short straight and then the second hairpin of the lap, Turn 11.ย This is a heavy braking zone, as the drivers go from nearly 300 km/h down to 90 km/h.
After Turn 11 comes the long, long back straight, which curves gently to the right. With the DRS open, drivers will reach speeds of more than 330 km/h before braking for Turn 12, a sharp, 105-km/h left-hander.
Turns 13, 14 and 15
This section is similar to the entrance to the stadium at Hockenheim, with the track doubling back on itself in a long "S" shape.
Turns 13 and 14 are back-to-back right-handers, followed by the 80-km/h Turn 15โthe slowest corner on the circuit.
Turns 16, 17 and 18
This long, multi-apex corner is taken at about 250 km/h. The corner is inspired by Istanbul Park's famous Turn 8 and is also similar to Sochi's Turn 4.
On the inside of this corner is COTA's grand plaza, including the circuit's famous observation tower.
Turns 19 and 20
The final two corners of the lap are both left-handers, separated by a short straight. Turn 19 is taken at nearly 200 km/h, while the drivers brake to about 105 km/h for the sharper Turn 20.
The pit entrance is on the inside of the track, just before Turn 20, with the exit coming at the end of the start/finish straight.
The circuit map is from Wikimedia Commons. Circuit data is from the official FIA website.
United States Grand Prix Tyres and DRS Zones
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Pirelli is bringing its supersoft-, soft- and medium-compound tyres to the U.S. Grand Prix. It is the 10th time those three compounds will be offered to the teams this seasonโby far the most of any combination.
Uncertainty is the name of the tyre game this year, according to Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery. In the company's race preview, he said:
"The 2015 grand prix was particularly challenging because of the weather, meaning that the teams are lacking recent data on the slick compounds at Austin. We're also bringing the supersoft to the track for the very first time. As a result, the free practice sessions in particular will be extremely important this year, with the optimal strategy yet to be defined.
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There is also significant variety in the teams' tyre choices for Austin. The Ferrari drivers, for example, each have one set of mediums, five sets of softs and seven sets of supersofts. Renault's Jolyon Palmer, meanwhile, has five sets of mediums, two sets of softs and six sets of supersofts.
DRS Zones
There are two DRS zones and two separate detection points at COTA. The first detection point is midway down the short straight between Turns 10 and 11. The activation point is on the long back straight after Turn 11.
The second detection point comes after the long Turn-16-17-18 complex, with the activation point just after Turn 20, on the start/finish straight.
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United States Grand Prix Weather
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You may recall that it rained a bit last year in Austin.ย OK, more than a bit.
The second free practice session was cancelled in the torrential conditions, and qualifying was delayed to Sunday morning (and Q3 was eventually cancelled). But at least the race was entertaining.
At press time, the weather looks as though it will be much nicer this year. In fact, AccuWeatherย saysย Friday, with a high of 25 degrees Celsius, will be "mostly sunny and delightful."
The weekend will be sunny with cloudy periods and temperatures steadily increasing to a high of 27 degrees on Saturday and 29 degrees on race day. Delightful.
United States Grand Prix Odds
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Hamilton has to win again eventually, right? Despite his recent struggles, the oddsmakers have installed the Brit as the favourite this weekend in Texas.
The best odds available for the top 10 favourites in the U.S. are:
| Driver | Odds |
|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 5-4 |
| Nico Rosberg | 13-10 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 12-1 |
| Max Verstappen | 12-1 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 16-1 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 28-1 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 300-1 |
| Sergio Perez | 300-1 |
| Fernando Alonso | 500-1 |
| Jenson Button | 500-1 |
Selected Others
Mercedes have just two fastest laps in the last seven races. There are tempting odds for all the drivers other than the Mercsโthe key is picking the right one. Vettel clocked the fastest lap at the first three races in Austin and is 10-1 to do it this year. Ricciardo has the most fastest laps this year aside from the Mercedes drivers; his odds this weekend are also 10-1.
All three of Hamilton's COTA wins came from second on the grid (Vettel is the only driver to win from pole, in 2013). The odds are 9-4 for the winner to come from second, again, or 5-1 from third or fourth place.
All odds are taken fromย Oddscheckerย and correct at the time of publication.
United States Grand Prix Session and TV Times
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Here are the times for the three free practice sessions, qualifying and the race:
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 10 a.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 2 p.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 10 a.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 1 p.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 2 p.m. |
The above times are in local Austin time (CDT, UTC-5). You can convert the times to your local time zone using the helpful tool onย the official F1 website.
TV Times
In the United Kingdom,ย Sky Sports F1ย will have live coverage of all the sessions. The programming start times are as follows (all times BST):
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 3:45 p.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 7:45 p.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 3:45 p.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 6 p.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 6:30 p.m. |
Channel 4ย will have free-to-air highlights of qualifying and the race.
In the United States,ย NBCย has live coverage of all the sessions on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Sports app, with programming start times as followsย (all times EDT):
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 11 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 3 p.m. (NBCSN) |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 11 a.m. (NBC Sports app) |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 12:30 p.m. (NBCSN) |
| Race | Sunday | 2:30 p.m. (NBC) |
Enjoy the race and the rest of the weekend!
Matthew Walthert is an F1 columnist for Bleacher Report UK. He has also written forย VICE,ย FourFourTwoย and theย Globe and Mail. Follow him on Twitter:
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