And a handy visual of the calendar to save:
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For something totally random:
And see if you guys cant get a hold of :
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Do yourself a favour and watch that documentary, its one of the best ever.
There was a fair bit of rain there last year as well, and 2015 was pretty close to being called off because of rain. If itās really bad again this weekend I wonder if theyāll think about shifting it on the calendar in future?
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[not really sure where to put this - here, in the F1 2018 game thread, a new thread? iāll leave it to the powers that be to decideā¦]
From Thursday October 18, youāll be able to put the 2018 Formula 1 season in your pocket with the fantastic, free new mobile game from Codemasters. Check out the trailer aboveā¦
All the circuits. All the cars. All the drivers. F1 Mobile Racing really does give you the chance to put yourself in the cockpit of the pinnacle of world motorsport, as you tackle the 21 races of the 2018 Formula 1 calendar.
Whether youāre an Alonso aficionado or a hardcore Hamilton fan, take your pick from the full roster of cars and drivers before taking on the worldās greatest circuits, from the sweeping Spa-Francorchamps to the narrow confines of Monaco, as the stunning graphics fully immerse you in the world of an F1 racer.
But Formula 1 isnāt just about testing yourself against the stopwatch ā itās about mano a mano competition too, and in F1 Mobile Racing, youāll be able to take on other gamers from around the globe in thrilling real-time, player-versus-player races, as well as building and customising your own F1 machine from the ground up.
F1 Mobile Racing will be available to download for free from October 18 for iOS users (excluding China). Releases for Android devices and China will follow shortly.
Despite the āfrom Thursday 18 Octoberā bit and the āWork in Progressā banner on the video, the game is already available on the App Store. (If you are grabbing it, be aware that it is almost a GB in size, so you may want to make sure youāre on a wifi connection and not sucking up your monthsā 3G bandwidth in one shot.)
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I need it on google 
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Well howdy yāall! Welcome to Austin and the great state of Texas! Yāall came on down here just in time to catch up on this here U-Nited States Grand Prix information post. It aināt NASCAR, but heck yāall - them there Formula 1 autos sure do have some speed, so we gonna give āem all a fair shake now, yā hear! Yeehaa!
(Sorry, couldnāt resist)
The Formula 1 circus shifts over to the Americas for Rounds 18, 19 and 20 of the 2018 F1 season, beginning with this weekendsā United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (affectionately known as COTA) in Austin, Texas. Once again, weāre in for back-to-back race weekends with Mexico next weekend. And then the penultimate round in Brazil on November 11, before the season finale in Abu Dhabi on the 25th.
Most objective fans have accepted the inevitable: Lewis Hamilton will be crowned the 2018 Driversā World Champion. The talk now is really all about when he will be crowned. Both he and Seb Vettel have 4 world titles to their name, but only Hamilton has the chance to leave Austin on Sunday with a 5th title in the bag. To do so this weekend, he needs to score 8 points more than Vettel on Sunday.
From Vettelās perspective, hereās how the permutations need to fall to help him keep a very slim chance of a 5th Championship alive:
That weird time-zone thing where other parts of the planet donāt have the same time as us comes into play again this weekend. If you were planning on an early-to-bed experience on Sunday, you may have to reassess your priorities:
COTA hosts itās 7th US GP this weekend. Only 2 people have ever won a F1 Grand Prix at the circuit: Vettel in 2013, and Hamilton every other time, including the last 4. (In fact, if Hamilton wins on Sunday, he will make more F1 history by becoming only the 2nd driver ever to win the same Grand Prix 5 consecutive times. Ayrton Senna created that long-standing record by winning the Monaco GP every year between 1989 and 1993.)
Packed with some iconic corners (many based on other famous circuits around the world) COTA usually delivers a pretty good race:
And hereās affable Danni Ric to take us on a virtual tour of the place:
The rubber fetishists over at Pirelli give the COTA surface a mid-level rating for Abrasion, Grip, and Stress and so have offered Soft, Supersoft, and Ultrasofts to the teams. As before expect a mix of one- and two-stop strategies:
A big - and I mean Texas BIG - factor for the race in Austin is the weather, and specifically rain. With the city caught on the edges of Hurricane Michael, (as Wyv posted yesterday) thereās been a lot of rain in and around the circuit over the past week, and the weekend looks to serve up a big olā plate of it again. The dry forecast for race day has been holding steady for a while now, but the practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, and the Quali session on Saturday look to be under threat of the wet:
Talking about Texas-sized servings, hereās a few nuggets of trivia and some stats to soothe the game show contestant in all of us:
- If Lewis Hamilton wins at the United States Grand Prix, it will be only the second time in Formula 1 history that a driver has won a Grand Prix five times in a row. Ayrton Senna set the record by winning the Monaco Grand Prix every year from 1989 to 1993.
- The Circuit of The Americas is the 10th different venue to hold a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the United States ā a record for one country.
- All six of the United States Grands Prix at the Circuit of The Americas have been won from the front row of the grid.
- If Hamilton wins the title in Austin, heāll become only the third five-time champion in F1 history, alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. Heāll also become only the second driver after Schumacher to win back-to-back championships on two separate occasions.
- The Circuit of The Americas features a maximum elevation change of 131 feet from its highest to its lowest points.
- Only once since 2012 have both Red Bull drivers finished in the top five in Austin ā when Sebastian Vettel won in 2013 and Mark Webber finished third.
- The Friday of the United States Grand Prix marks the 60th anniversary of Mike Hawthorn becoming the first British F1 world champion in 1958.
- If Mercedes lead a minimum of 43 laps of this yearās United States Grand Prix, theyāll become only the fifth team in Formula 1 history to lead 5,000 racing laps, behind Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Lotus.
- Daniel Ricciardo will be looking to fight back against Max Verstappen in qualifying in Austin. Ricciardo has been out-qualified by his Dutch team mate at the previous 11 tries, the worst run of his F1 career.
- Kimi Raikkonen is currently on a 37-race streak of not gaining a place on the opening lap of a race. That means he hasnāt made progress through the field on lap one since the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
And then finally, as you struggle to stay awake waiting for the clock to wind down to āAnd away they go!ā on a lazy Sunday evening, I give you all 160 glorious full-colour (or should that be ācolorā?) pages of the Digital 2018 F1 US Grand Prix Race Programme. Hopefully thatāll hold your attention long enough until lights out:
Direct Link: https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/cd45e52a#/cd45e52a/1
Now yāall enjoy that there Formula 1 race, yā hear?! And yāall come on back real soon. Yeehaa!
USA! USA! USA!
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Jis I enjoy these summaries you do so much!!!
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Not a huge surprise at this point, but Perez will be staying at Force India for 2019.
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New Torro Rosso sponsor, Mclaren got CokeCola Sneak peak at the Renault barge board - do not fall on it
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In other news, new head of aerodynamics at Renault, John āJigsawā Kramer, is confident that the updated package will slice its way through the competition.
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Took them long enoughā¦
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Eish, 3 place Grid penalty. I think Hamilton is going to take it this weekend 
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Agreed. Itās all over bar the champagne.
KIMI!!! Jou lekker ding. So happy for him man. So happy.
Also that last few laps was epic! Vettel, bleh.
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The old man actually did it. If this turns out to be his last ever win, it sure was a special one.
I cannot understand why Merc didnāt pit Hamilton earlier. They cost him a huge chunk of time.
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What a race!! That was the most exciting race of the year probably. There was action from the start right up until the last lap.
Was probably the first time where the broadcast completely focused on the top 6 drivers. Normally they would show the mid-field battles more as the top drivers just continue on, but not this race. It was so good seeing the top teams giving each other such a good fight.
Some remarks about what I found interesting about the weekends racing:
- Leclerc is total class. Which his car did not see the end of the race, he managed to qualify 10 places ahead of his teammate. They are in the same car, but he just has that raw pace. Itās a pity Grojean (I think) hit him and ended his race
- Bottas is too slow for the top teams. He is in the same car as Hamilton, yet he was passed by both Vettel and Verstappen rather easily, both far behind him. While people may feel sorry for him for some reason, he is just not fast enough to give Hamilton or any of the other drivers any sort of challenge.
- Vettel is a royal idiot and doesnāt deserve to win the WDC. Heās completely lost the ability to combat other drivers wheel-to-wheel. This is the fourth time heās spun out trying to overtake a car, and each time itās been his own stupidity.
- Verstappen is an absolute beast!! Since calming down and not crashing into people, heās shown time and time again that he is a fantastic driver! That defensive move on Hamilton was nothing but a pure racing masterclass!
- I am so happy for Kimi!! He raced the perfect race. From that first corner pass on Hamilton, that perfect defensive drive right until the end. He was pure class. And while during the middle of the race it looked like Ferrari cocked up his strategy by not pitting him during the VSC, it turned out to be the perfect strategy on the day.
All in all, a great race!!
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Yup, keep and eye on Leclerc and Verstappen. It will get interesting if they keep this up.
However, Bottas is the new Rubens Barrichello. You donāt want him to win, heās just there to create more space between the champion and the opposition. Doesnāt matter much if heās not allowed to really win a race (yes he won 4 races in 2017, but his teammate won the WDC).
Iāve said this before with Vettel, and Iāll say this again, heās only good when thereās no pressure on him. Currently heās under huge pressure from his team, the media, his teammate and the top half of the grid. Weāll see how it goes with Charles Leclerc as his teammate next season, but Iām guessing the number 2 driver at Ferrari will be getting āVettel is faster, repeat, Vettel is fasterā messages on the radio.
Iām intrigued as to what the Verstappen/Gasly combination will do next year.
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Hammer might klap me, I think that first lap incident between Vettel and Ricciardo was just that, a racing incident. They both over committed for the spot, I do agree Vettel doesnāt deserve the WDC this year. His head hasnāt been in it since the first race. The stupid mistakes has costed him dearly.
I want whomever spoke to Max, to have a sit down with Vettel. Cos suddenly Max is not acting like the idiot he has been.
Why is Grosjean still in F1? LeClerc is hopefully going to be able to cope with the Ferrari team next year.
Bottas has been a wingman, we always knew it, just keep in mind at the end of the race he had no tires left - I canāt remember when he stopped.
And Kimi, I had tears for Kimi, he deserved driver of the day in my eyes, he didnt put a foot wrong, the feint to the pit stop was very well executed. We all questioned that no stop during the VSC (I still believe Vettel should have stopped). But bloody heck he drove the wheels off the car and somehow managed to keep it wide enough to keep everyone behind him at the end.
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