Poll: United States Grand Prix 2021, Austin - Race 17

Rate the 2021 United States Grand Prix out of ten

  • Total voters
    55

Shimmy

Shimmy

Shimmy

Man of Honour
Joined
30 May 2007
Posts
5,682
Location
St A
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Austin
When was the track built?
The Circuit of The Americas, designed by Hermann Tilke in collaboration with American architectural firm HKS, endured something of a nervy start, with construction suffering several setbacks. It was well worth the wait, though, when 1978 F1 champion Mario andretti opened the track on October 21 2012.

When was its first Grand Prix?
F1 first raced at the Circuit of The Americas in 2012, for the first United States Grand Prix since the 2007 race at Indianapolis. Unsurprisingly, over 100,000 spectators packed out the Austin venue, witnessing Lewis Hamilton’s last ever win in a McLaren before his switch to Mercedes for 2013.

What’s the circuit like?
If the corners at COTA seem familiar, they should be. Turns 3 through 6 look not dissimilar to Silverstone's high-speed run through Maggotts/Becketts or the S Curves at Suzuka, while Turns 12 through 15 mimic Hockenheim's stadium section. Meanwhile, the uphill run into wide, wide Turn 1 – hey, everything’s bigger in Texas, right? – has provided some fine overtaking action in the track’s short life.
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TV Times
Sky:
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C4:
Sun - Quali Highlights 8.30am
Mon - Race Highlights 12.05am

Track Diagram & Information
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Weather Forecast
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WDC Standings
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Constructors' Championship Standings
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Practice 1
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Practice 2
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Practice 3
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Qualifying
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Race
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Anything less than a Lewis win, will seriously hurt his championship hopes.

Love the late quali/evening races... you can relax with a few beers and a takeaway :)
 
Cheers @Shimmy.

EVH said:
Anything less than a Lewis win, will seriously hurt his championship hopes.

Love the late quali/evening races... you can relax with a few beers and a takeaway :)
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Yep, it’s a track that Merc and Hamilton have done well at historically (although Lewis hasn’t actually won here the last couple of times out) and Max has never won here, so the stats are in Lewis’ favour… which probably means a Verstappen win and a Hamilton DNF. :o
 
Hopefully a Verstappen win and Hamilton second, I reckon him being beaten on-track will irritate the Lewisterical brigade even more than him DNFing.

/runs

/runs back in quickly

Oh yeah, was glancing at the points table and noted the respective tallies of the Ferrari drivers - when was the last time that team-mates were split by just half a point? I reckon post Malaysia '09, Trulli and Glock on 8.5 and 8 points respectively for Toyota, unless anyone knows better.
 
JRS said:
Hopefully a Verstappen win and Hamilton second, I reckon him being beaten on-track will irritate the Lewisterical brigade even more than him DNFing.
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The Verstappen fans are no different hence you could say the same about him being beaten on track by Lewis as apposed to a DNF.
 
JRS said:
Oh yeah, was glancing at the points table and noted the respective tallies of the Ferrari drivers - when was the last time that team-mates were split by just half a point? I reckon post Malaysia '09, Trulli and Glock on 8.5 and 8 points respectively for Toyota, unless anyone knows better.
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There hasn't been a race which hasn't reached 75% distance (and thus half points) until Spa 2021, so it's not been possible to be closer until then.

Indeed it's only ever happened six times in the 71 years of the F1 championship:
  • Spain 1975, Montjuïc Park (four spectators killed after Stommelen, the race leader, cleared the barrier after crashing when his rear wing failed. Numerous concerns at the safety of the track even before practice).
  • Austra 1975, Osterreichring (rain, with the winner, Brambilla, crashing as he went over the line).
  • Monaco 1984 (rain, infamously).
  • Australia 1991, Adelaide (rain, back straight littered with crashed cars, the race stopped soon after Mansell broke his foot after the first few corners).
  • Malaysia 2009, Sepang (rain).
  • Belgium 2021, Spa (not a race).

Still, it's not exactly 1984, when Lauda beat Prost to the championship by half a point.
 
Just checked in on Free Practice. Mercs over a second ahead! I hope Red Bull can get closer than that or the end stage of this season is going to be a damp squib.

EVH said:
Love the late quali/evening races... you can relax with a few beers and a takeaway :)
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Mate, you're an adult now. You can have beers with all the other races too. I remember, many years back, watching the Japanese GP in a pub - with whisky-and-orange - at about 6 in the morning.
 
Junglist said:
It's a bit bumpy out there
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Yeah, it's pretty dreadful.

Apparently it's in better condition this year to last though, where some of the track was breaking up. Seems they have done some work to it. But still, MotoGP pretty much said the track was in such a state that if it's not fixed the won't return.
 
It flooded a few years ago which screwed the underground drainage, leading to ground movement and bumpy tarmac.

I suspect we will see some people locking up under load, especially in quali.
 
Looks like merc will win the remaining races. Even Mexico isn’t certain with that pace. As expected red bull have been out developed.
 
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Junglist said:
I don't see that happening. They were always going to be strong here but they'll be weak at Mexico
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We’ll see I guess, they don’t seem weak anywhere with whatever they’ve developed. 2018 all over again, more or less. Mercedes are currently fastest in every sector, at best it’ll be equal in Mexico.

Edit: wow, no wonder they’ve gained pace. Mercedes never cease to amaze https://streamable.com/j0vhsx
 
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I thought adjustable suspension was banned years ago. Wasnt there a Renault years ago before mass damper that used a trick interlinked suspension system that was banned? It’s soo tough to keep up with what is or isn’t allowed for development. There was talk that the Mercedes front wheel system wouldn’t be possible next year with the new regulations either, but this doesn’t seem to give the same benefit as this rear wheel system. Very cool development.
 
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