United States Grand Prix 2012, Austin - Race 19/20

[Duke]

Austin

The 2012 season sees Formula One racing return to the United States for the first time since 2007 with an all-new venue in Austin, Texas. The Circuit of The Americas (COTA) is the first purpose-built F1 facility in the US designed for any and all classes of racing and was officially opened on October 21, 2012 by COTA ambassador and 1978 F1 world champion, Mario Andretti.

Its signature element is a 5.5-kilometre (3.4-mile) Grand Prix circuit, located in Wandering Creek, southeast of the Texan capital, and designed by Hermann Tilke in collaboration with American architectural firm HKS.

The 20-turn, anticlockwise track, construction of which began in January 2011, draws inspiration from the best circuits around the world, as well as taking advantage of the site's natural topography to include dramatic elevation changes of up to 40 metres.

There is a steep, uphill run into the hairpin Turn One, which is expected to become the venue's signature corner. Turns Three through Six look not dissimilar to Silverstone's high-speed Maggotts/Becketts; Turns 12 through 15 give a nod to Hockenheim's stadium section; and Turns 16 through 18 will mirror the famous, multi-apex Turn Eight at Istanbul Park.

The grandstands, semi-permanent stands and natural seating areas will enable over 120,000 fans to attend the Grand Prix, but the circuit is only one part of the multi-functional 900-acre site.

Support buildings will include a medical facility, 14 executive meeting suites, a conference centre and a banquet hall, as well as an expansive outdoor live music space. Future proposed amenities include a driving/riding experience, a motorsports driving club, kart track, grand plaza event centre and tower, and a trackside recreational vehicle park.


Session Times

Fri 16 Nov 2012
Practice 1 15:00 - 16:30
Practice 2 19:00 - 20:30

Sat 17 Nov 2012
Practice 3 15:00 - 16:00
Qualifying 18:00

Sun 18 Nov 2012
Race 19:00

All live on Sky Sports F1. For BBC times and info see here. FIA 2011 race edit can be found here.


Race preview -


Track:

Track Diagram

Video - http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/video/12870/8221286

Pics - http://circuitoftheamericas.com/articles/1-week-away


Track DRS

TBA


Circuit information

Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.516 km
Race Distance: 308.896 km
Lap Record: -



Current Standings

Technical Changes

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/



Photos from the event

Thursday - http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2012/882/general/thursday.html

Friday - http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2012/882/general/friday.html

Saturday -

Sunday -


FIA Press Conference

Thursday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/11/14051.html

Friday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/11/14062.html

Saturday -

Sunday -


Practice 1

[b]Pos  Driver              Team                   Time                 Laps[/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       1m38.125              30
 2.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes       1m39.543s  + 1.418s   28
 3.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                1m40.337s  + 2.212s   29
 4.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       1m40.528s  + 2.403s   29
 5.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1m40.650s  + 2.525s   30
 6.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                1m40.966s  + 2.841s   26
 7.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes   1m41.023s  + 2.898s   29
 8.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.036s  + 2.911s   28
 9.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               1m41.159s  + 3.034s   32
10.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari         1m41.473s  + 3.348s   29
11.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   1m41.783s  + 3.658s   29
12.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.825s  + 3.700s   28
13.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m41.833s  + 3.708s   29
14.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault          1m41.880s  + 3.755s   23
15.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault          1m41.998s  + 3.873s   27
16.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault       1m42.539s  + 4.414s   30
17.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes               1m42.588s  + 4.463s   25
18.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth      1m43.288s  + 5.163s   23
19.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault       1m43.443s  + 5.318s   28
20.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault       1m43.522s  + 5.397s   23
21.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth      1m44.464s  + 6.339s   24
22.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault       1m44.548s  + 6.423s   29
23.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth           1m46.917s  + 8.792s   13
24.  Ma Qing Hua         HRT-Cosworth           1m48.559s  + 10.434s  19

Practice 2

[b]Pos Driver                Team                  Time                Laps[/b]
 1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m37.718             17
 2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m38.475s  + 0.757   36
 3. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m38.483s  + 0.765   35
 4. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.748s  + 1.030   31
 5. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.786s  + 1.068   32
 6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m39.029s  + 1.311   33
 7. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m39.448s  + 1.730   32
 8. Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m39.531s  + 1.813   38
 9. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.653s  + 1.935   36
10. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m40.115s  + 2.397   30
11. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m40.166s  + 2.448   32
12. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m40.230s  + 2.512   35
13. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m40.2$6s  + 2.568   32
14. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m40.326s  + 2.608   35
15. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m40.435s  + 2.717   30
16. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m40.516s  + 2.798   32
17. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m40.700s  + 2.982   34
18. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m41.430s  + 3.712   35
19. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m42.476s  + 4.758   38
20. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m42.652s  + 4.934   33
21. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m42.846s  + 5.128   38
22. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m43.538s  + 5.820   38
23. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m44.453s  + 6.735   16
24. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m45.114s  + 7.396   20

Practice 3

[b]Pos  Driver              Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps[/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault      1m36.490s            18
 2.  Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      1m36.748s  + 0.258s  20
 3.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault      1m37.001s  + 0.511s  21
 4.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari               1m37.180s  + 0.690s  21
 5.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes              1m37.247s  + 0.757s  24
 6.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari               1m37.262s  + 0.772s  27
 7.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault      1m37.298s  + 0.808s  18
 8.  Sergio Perez        Sauber-Ferrari        1m37.415s  + 0.925s  20
 9.  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India-Mercedes  1m37.495s  + 1.005s  20
10.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes      1m37.538s  + 1.048s  20
11.  Bruno Senna         Williams-Renault      1m37.569s  + 1.079s  21
12.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes              1m37.760s  + 1.270s  21
13.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault         1m37.765s  + 1.275s  26
14.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari        1m37.953s  + 1.463s  23
15.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m38.547s  + 2.057s  23
16.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes  1m38.653s  + 2.163s  22
17.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault         1m38.753s  + 2.263s  11
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m39.689s  + 3.199s  12
19.  Timo Glock          Marussia-Cosworth     1m40.407s  + 3.917s  23
20.  Vitaly Petrov       Caterham-Renault      1m40.753s  + 4.263s  19
21.  Heikki Kovalainen   Caterham-Renault      1m41.011s  + 4.521s  19
22.  Charles Pic         Marussia-Cosworth     1m41.466s  + 4.976s  19
23.  Pedro de la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth          1m43.563s  + 7.073s  21
24.  Narain Karthikeyan  HRT-Cosworth          1m44.043s  + 7.553s  23

Qualifying

[b]Pos  Driver                Team                 Time          Gap   [/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m35.657s
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m35.766s  + 0.109
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m36.174s  + 0.517
 4.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m36.587s  + 1.051
 5.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m36.708s  + 1.137
 6.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m36.794s  + 1.280
 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m36.937s  + 1.484
 8.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes 1m37.141s  + 1.643
 9.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m37.300s  + 0.930
10.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m37.842s  + 2.185
Q2 cut-off time: 1m37.404s                                   Gap **
11.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m37.604s   + 1.808
12.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m37.616s   + 1.820
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m37.665s   + 1.869
14.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m37.879s   + 2.083
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.206s   + 2.410
16.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m38.437s   + 2.641
17.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m38.501s   + 2.705
Q1 cut-off time: 1m38.862s                                  Gap *
18.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m39.114s   + 2.556
19.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m40.056s   + 3.498
20.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m40.664s   + 4.106
21.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m40.809s   + 4.251
22.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m41.166s   + 4.608
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m42.011s   + 5.453
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m42.740s   + 6.182

Race

[b]Pos  Driver        Team                       Time[/b]
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h35:55.269
 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +     0.600
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    39.200
 4.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    46.000
 5.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    56.400
 6.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +  1:04.400
 7.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +  1:10.300
 8.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +  1:13.700
 9.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +  1:14.500
10.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:15.100
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:24.300
12.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:24.800
13.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:25.500
14.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
15.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
16.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +     1 lap
17.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
18.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
20.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps
21.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
22.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

 

[Duke]

So looking forward to this race Nice start time for qually and the race too.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

I hope turns 3-6 are not as pointless as they look from the overview pic

 

[Kevin Clark]

Factoids
* Sebastian Vettel started his F1 career in 2007 at the USA GP at Indianapolis.

* This weekend he starts his 100th GP back in the USA again with two World Championships, 35 pole positions, 26 wins and 45 podiums already under his belt.

* Austin is the 10th venue for a F1 race in the USA (after Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Phoenix, Riverside, Sebring and Watkins Glen)

* Simulations suggest the circuit has more corners over 250 kph than Spa and more below 100 kph than Hungary

* A qualifying lap time of around 97 seconds (1:37) and a race lap time around 102 seconds (1:42) are predicted

 

[Kevin Clark]

Decent trophies. At least it's not the hideous Santander jobs.

 

[Skeeter]

Am I the only person not convinced by this layout? It just strikes me as 2 hairpins seperated by a bunch of pointless single file corners.

 

[413x]

Can't believe this is a highlights track

 

[413x]

3-9 and especially 13-20 look bit clumsy and boring

 

[King Damager]

Looks like quite a long pit lane? Expecting reasonably long times out from pitting?

kd

 

[Reaper 392]

is there anywhere i can watch a live stream of this race? there's no way the parents will let me stay over till the end of it if i want to be driven back in the evening and its only a highlights event on BBC so it wont be on iPlayer

 

[413x]

gonna see if sky go will work using my grandparents id

 

[deko]

Video with a couple of on-board videos, Mario Andretti in a Lotus 79 and alguersuari in a modern day car. Turns 3 - 6 look very good, obviously will be single file but they are nowhere near flat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5gLoxNE7ms

 

[Guerrilla]

Wooo super excited for this race... Please be good.

Cheers Duke

 

[Duke]

is there anywhere i can watch a live stream of this race? there's no way the parents will let me stay over till the end of it if i want to be driven back in the evening and its only a highlights event on BBC so it wont be on iPlayer

Only if you know someone with Sky Sports, so you can use Sky Go online stream (via pc, console, etc).

 

[TaKeN]

Very excited for this. Unknown track..

HRT to take pole by 2 seconds!?

 

[PinkFloyd]

Nice Trophies! Wish more tracks had unique ones, fed up with seeing those same old Santander ones!

 

[timbob]

3-9 and especially 13-20 look bit clumsy and boring

I wouldn't call the Maggots/Becketts complex at Silverstone clumsy and boring

 

[Nismo]

I think it's looking great.

Bits of Silverstone, Turkey, Hockenheim infield, and Osterreichring at Turn 1?. Depends if it all combines well when there's cars on it though.

 

[tummelv]

Very excited for this. Unknown track..

HRT to take pole by 2 seconds!?

Be worth it for the look on everyone's faces

 

[smr]

Great track - Turn 1, amazing.

Maggots, Becketts kind of section in S1, long straight in S2 then a couple of hair pins and some technical and challenging parts in sector 3.

Got everything. Lots of undulation as well.