I nearly cried for Norris! The Mclarens were both in really good positions! Not sure why Sainz fell so far back in the endā¦
As for Leclerc, what is the worst pole-win conversion rate in F1? He must be getting close? And it often feels like it is not his fault.
I stopped listening to Lewis. Does he realise this is not a soapy and he does not have to moan every race? I did miss his engineer shouting āGet in there Lewis!ā
What if, heās doing this on purpose because they are now included for Drive to Survive S2 
It just hit me!
Iām quite a fan of Albon, heās definitely doing well for his first season.
A first podium still awaits Albon, but Horner praised the 23-year-oldās approach after he continued a run of finishing in the top six in every race since joining Red Bull.
āHeās impressed the whole team with his performance to date, and each weekend heās progressing, heās getting stronger.
āAlex has scored more points than Max since the summer break, which you never would have expected. I think Alex is doing a very good job considering itās his first year in Formula 1. Heās getting stronger and stronger, he works very hard, he has good feedback in the car and I think heās impressed the whole team with his attitude and application.ā
The stuff of dreams. Bad ones.
Saving this for later. Anything DaniRic does is epic so Iām sure itās worth it.
I also want to watch it later. Iām a big fan of Daniel Ricciardo. Sometimes I wish I can be more like him. You can see that stuff happens that affects him emotionally but he keeps on standing up and keeps on kicking ass and most of the time he keeps on smiling and making jokes.
Great guy.
New rules and car for 2021 revealed!
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All you need to know 
Iām down with that. Looks fantastic!
Running a little late with the preview this week - got seriously distracted by all the 2021 news and info. Still, itās US GP weekend so weāve still got plenty of timeā¦
The 2019 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix Preview
USA! USA! USA!
Welcome, Race Fans and F1 Followers, to the preview post for the 2019 US F1 GP. I hope youāve got the tacos and Corona out of your system and have some room for burgers and Budweiser because weāre off to the great state of Texas this weekend for some rootinā, tootin, boot scootinā, my grand-pappy says it aināt NASCAR so it doesnāt count, high speed action around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
The United States Grand Prix has been held in the US on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The race became an official part of the Formula One World Championship for the first time in 1959.
That inaugural āofficialā Grand Prix was won by Bruce McLaren driving a Cooper-Climax at the Sebring International Raceway. It was also the first and only time that Sebring hosted a US GP.
As of 2018, the race has been held 48 times (40 times as a round of the F1 Championship) and has been run at 10 different locations in total. Since 2012, it has been held every year at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
This will be Round #18 of the 20 races this season, and the 8th year in succession that the US Grand Prix has been run at COTA, the first circuit in the USA purpose-built for Formula 1.
Last yearās US Grand Prix was voted as the best of the season by F1 website visitors. It will be remembered as the day when Ferrariās Kimi Raikkonen brilliantly broke a 112-race winless streak.*
The Finn, whose previous victory went all the way back to Australia in 2013, a full 2 044 days earlier, came out on top of a titanic three-way battle with Red Bullās Max Verstappen and Mercedesā Lewis Hamilton to claim his 21st career victory and become, at 39, F1ās oldest race winner since Nigel Mansell in 1994.
Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:32.237Fastest Lap
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:37.392 on lap 40 (lap record)Podium
P1 - 
Kimi RƤikkƶnen, Ferrari
P2 - 
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
P3 ā Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Hereās a look at the highlights from that memorable race last year:
* Sadly, for his legion of fans, the 2018 US win is also the last time Kimi has won a Grand Prix
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification permanent 5.514 km motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, the IndyCar Classic, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of The Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship, as well a round of the Americas Rallycross Championship.
Itās also previously hosted the Australian V8 Supercars, the American Le Mans Series, the Rolex Sports Car Series, the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The circuit and Grand Prix were first proposed in the middle of 2010. The circuit was the first in the United States to be purpose-built for Formula One. The layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz with the assistance of German architect and circuit designer Hermann Tilke, who has also designed the Sepang, Shanghai, Yas Marina, Istanbul, Bahrain, Yeongam, and Buddh circuits, as well as the reprofiling of the Hockenheimring and Fuji Speedway.
The circuit endured something of a nervy start, with construction suffering several setbacks. Even so, just two years later 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti opened the track on 21 October 2012.
Just a month later, in November 2012, the first F1 race at the Circuit of The Americas took place. It was the first United States Grand Prix since the 2007 race at Indianapolis. Unsurprisingly, over 100,000 spectators packed out the Austin venue, witnessing Lewis Hamiltonās last ever win in a McLaren before his switch to Mercedes in 2013.
Many of the corners at COTA seem familiar to F1 fans, as they should. Turns 3 through 6 are not dissimilar to Silverstoneās high-speed run through Maggotts/Becketts or the S Curves at Suzuka, while Turns 12 through 15 mimic Hockenheimās stadium section.
On the other hand, the circuit does have some unique elements to it too. The 11% gradient uphill run into wide, wide Turn 1 ā the highest point of the circuits 41 m elevation changes ā for one.
Hereās home team Haasā Kevin Magnussen to show us around:
Much like Suzukaās iconic Ferris Wheel, COTAās landmark has become the 77 m tall COTA Observation Tower. Featuring a double helix staircase of 419 stairs, which lead to an observation platform 70 m above ground level, the platform provides a 360-degree panorama of the entire circuit, as well as views to downtown Austin, Texas. The observation platform, which is accessible to the public for an admission fee, can accommodate up to 70 visitors and features glass railings and a partial glass floor.
As Formula 1 moves from Central to North America, the same tyre nomination has been selected for Austin as for Mexico City: C2 as the White hard, C3 as the Yellow medium, and C4 as the Red soft. The Circuit of the Americas, which joined F1 calendar in 2012 (just three years before Mexico) has very different characteristics to the previous round, with a reputation of exciting and unpredictable races.
The Friday free practice sessions will be particularly important this weekend as for the first time the teams will get a taste of the 2020 P Zero tyres.
Drivers will have a chance of sample the 2020 tyres on Friday in Austin, to next yearās specification that was defined following a number of dedicated tests, with the final one held in Barcelona earlier this month involving the top three teams. Each driver will get two sets of the 2020 soft compound tyres, for use during FP1 and FP2 only.
The hardest tyre nominated for the United States Grand Prix is a step harder than it was in 2018 (when the soft, supersoft and ultrasoft tyres were chosen). These should help to ensure a more evenly spaced performance gap between the three compounds.
An ultrasoft-soft one-stopper was the winning strategy last year, courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari. Red Bullās Max Verstappen was second (from 18th on the grid) with a soft-supersoft strategy, while Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was third with a two-stopper.
Thereās quite a variety of corners at the anti-clockwise Circuit of the Americas, with the uphill hairpin of Turn 1 standing out as Austinās signature corner.
Wear and degradation is about average for all the circuits used during the season, making the three tyres from the middle of the range a particularly appropriate choice. Both the race and overall lap records date from last year set by Lewis Hamilton.
The weather in Texas can be extremely variable at this time of year, ranging from bright sunshine to typhoon-like conditions that have cancelled entire sessions in the past.
Austin has always been renowned for putting on a great show, both on and off the track. This year, it is particularly significant, as it is where the teams will get to sample next yearās tyres for the first time, during free practice on Friday. This of course is just an initial taste of the 2020 C4 soft compound, before teams get to test the full homologated range of next yearās tyres at the two-day test in December following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as usual. Austin contains a bit of everything in terms of different types of corner, with quite representative asphalt as well, so it should be a good place to try out these new tyres for the first time.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
F1 in Austin has had its fair share of rain in the past, but the outlook for this weekend looks absolutely fantastic for racing.
About the only downside to the US Grand Prix (other than not been there to see it live of course) is the dreaded ācan I stay awake and sober long enough to watch Qualifyingā issue for Saturday night. And I guess maybe a similar issue for some of us after a long sun-filled Sunday with family and friends. The race itself gets going late on Sunday evening.
Just six cars taking the start in 2005 at Indianapolis, Nick Heidfeld going aerial and triple rolling at the same venue the next year, and Senna and Alesi battling in the streets of Phoenix in 1990 all make this weeksā instalment of Shocking Moments with F1 .
With the Constructors wrapped up seemingly ages ago by Mercedes, and only one of the Mercedes drivers able to win the Driversā Championship (we all know which oneā¦) itās the lesser placings in both the Standings Tables that are worth looking at.
Lewis Hamilton did exactly what the Liberty Media PR machine were quietly hoping he would and did not clinch his 6th WDC in Mexico last weekend. Instead, he kept that eventuality for the US race just to make the FOM owners happy. He doesnāt even have to finish the race on Sunday to be crowned Champion if Bottas finishes 2nd or lower. If VB does win, Lewis only needs P8 (or P9 and the Fastest Lap) to make it #6.
And finally, in what I think might be a first (?) weāre getting a big, fat old downloadable digital version of the Official Race Program to read while we wait, wait, wait, wait for the lights to go out on Sunday evening.
Now look at the cover, think how long in advance it must have been finalised in order to meet print deadlines, and tell me again how this isnāt all an orchestrated marketing exerciseā¦?
Thatās it for this issue of the Preview Post pardners! Yāall have yourselves a mighty fine racing weekend now, yā hear? Imma gonna mosey on back to these parts in a couple oā weeksā time to give yāall the low down on the Brazillion Grand Prix. Until then, yee-haw!
Oh, and just how many Dollars are there in a Brazillion anyhoo?
It will be interesting to see how the big teams deal with this budget cap
Whatever they do, they canāt spend more than $175mil in a season making the car go faster. Or at least, donāt get caught spending more. Penalties for cheating this rule include potentially getting thrown out of the championship.
Interesting little side effect Iāve been pondering: How do you manage the expenditure for cars being developed concurrently? It looks like the $175 mil applies to a specific calendar year, so does it also include the work you start on this year for next yearās car?
I honestly have no idea, It is one of the many millions of questions - I am just glad that I donāt have to do their books
They have āpeopleā for that, donāt you worry. As in: āMy people are looking into itā, or āWe have top men working on it. Top. Men.ā
