USA F1 Grand Prix 2013: Start Time, Lineup, TV Schedule and More

Sebastian Vettel may have already won a fourth consecutive world title this season, but the German will be as eager as ever to cement his position atop Formula One's summit in Austin, Texas, this weekend.

Red Bull's gem is chasing a historic win in the second United States Grand Prix, where victory would see him become the first driver ever to win eight successive wins in a single season.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.516	1:37.065	1:36.338	12
2	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.161	1:37.312	1:36.441	14
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:38.676	1:37.523	1:37.155	17
4	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.339	1:37.828	1:37.296	20
5	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:37.959	1:37.854	1:37.345	20
6	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.929	1:37.368	1:37.376	19
7	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.367	1:38.040	1:37.452	21
8	7	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Renault	1:38.375	1:38.078	1:37.715	21
9	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	1:37.821	1:37.439	1:37.836	24
10	19	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	1:38.882	1:38.131		18
11	14	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.894	1:38.139		18
12	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.743	1:38.364		19
13	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:39.094	1:38.592		17
14	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	1:38.880	1:38.696		15
15 (pen.)	5	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.588	1:38.217		16
16	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:39.250			10
17	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1:39.351			11
18	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	1:40.491			10
19	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	1:40.528			11
20 (pen.)	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.082	1:38.031	1:38.034	20
21 (5-lap Drive Through)	23	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	1:41.401			10
22 (pen.)	20	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	1:40.596			10

The penultimate stage of the season will be an intriguing one if last year's inaugural race is anything to go by, and the latest incarnation of a U.S.-based event went down smoothly on that occasion, following failed attempts to set up similar races in Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

With Vettel having already taken his place on the pole and Red Bull teammate Mark Webber not far behind, the scene is set for more end-of-season drama.

Date: Sunday, Nov. 17

Course: Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas—full course details on Formula1.com.

Viewing Info: Sky Sports F1 (UK)

US Grand Prix Qualifying Replay: 2:25 p.m. GMT/9:25 a.m. ET 

US Grand Prix: 6 p.m. GMT/1 p.m. ET 

US Grand Prix Paddock Live: 9:15 p.m. GMT/4:15 p.m. ET

US Grand Prix Highlights: 11:30 p.m. GMT/6:30 p.m. ET 

The weather has been a fierce opponent for all on the grid so far this weekend as Texas threw up some gloomy conditions during qualifying.

However, Vettel still managed to claim top spot and will be hopeful of Sunday's forecast, which makes for a much sunnier racing environment.

Sky News confirmed the German's position.

This was after Williams' Valtteri Bottas claimed a shock lead after Q1, but Vettel clearly didn't appreciate the surprise and stormed back to finish Q2 and Q3 at the head of the pack.

Romain Grosjean managed to once again stage a raid on the top three and will look to break up the Red Bull duopoly of Vettel and Webber.

Formula One posted this photo of the top-three qualifiers on their official Instagram.

Charles Pic, Esteban Gutierrez and Max Chilton have been dealt new blows ahead of Sunday's race after Sky Sports confirmed that the trio would join Jenson Button among those being punished for offences during qualifying.

The stewards panel judged that Gutierrez and Chilton, racing for Sauber and Marussia, respectively, were guilty of impeding Pastor Maldonado during Q1.

The former's punishment is most severe and will see Gutierrez drop from 10th to 20th place on the starting grid, while Chilton receives a drive-through penalty for the first five laps of the race.

Though it won't mean as much to the Caterham driver, Pic drops to 22nd and last on the grid. The Sky Sports report reads that the Frenchman drops "after incurring an automatic five-place penalty after Caterham were forced to change the gearbox in his CT03 before it had completed its mandatory five consecutive events."

It was already known that Button would be penalised for overtaking under red flags in Practice One, with the Briton now dropping to 13th.

See above for updated table.

As BBC Sport's Andrew Benson has reported, Kimi Raikkonen will be missing for both Austin and the Brazilian Grand Prix next weekend after undergoing surgery on his back.

However, with the Finn missing, it does present the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber with the opportunity to make their way into a top-three finish for this season, however small a consolation that might be.

Hamilton is fifth on the grid after qualifying and seemed to be in high spirits about his race, per BBC Sport.

"

The car was quick out there and I had a good balance but we just couldn't get the tyres to work. The track was completely different from the final practice session this morning and it was really gusty round the back which affected our car quite a lot.

In practice, the car has felt really strong this weekend so I hope we have a good set-up for tomorrow. I need to have a good start in the race and, if we can achieve that, then there is still a lot to play for.

"

Despite how little there may actually be to play for, the Briton would undoubtedly be happy to stop Vettel from making history once more this weekend, as would a few others in the field.

One can only hope that Austin lives up to its "things are always bigger in Texas" reputation as we prepare for what should be another blockbuster F1 event.