It’s been nearly four and half months since Formula One ran the Canadian Grand Prix and now the drivers and teams have returned to North America for the final time this season. It’s round 16 of the 2015 season.
Teams arrived at a rather soggy Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the United States Grand Prix. Last time out, in Russia, Mercedes took home the World Constructors’ Championship title for the second consecutive year. Lewis Hamilton has the chance to take the World Drivers’ Championship title for the third time in his career this weekend. With a 66-point lead to Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton only needs to beat Vettel by nine points and Nico Rosberg by two. It’s pretty clear that Hamilton has run away with the title, so the championship battle is now for second position.
The Circuit of The Americas is a track that normally sees a lot of overtaking, especially in turn one. The speed at this circuit is a bit lower than average, but provides some entertaining racing due to the combination of technical corners and high speed sections. Mother Nature has thrown a curve ball this year though, as rain has poured on the circuit for the entire weekend. Although weather reports show that the rain will decrease at race time, there will be no rubber on the circuit and the track surface could still be wet, meaning that there will be a lack of grip.
Due to rain, free practice two was canceled and qualifying has been postponed to Sunday morning. Despite this, I’ve decided to create my predictions anyway, with very little performance data to go on. Since the qualifying has not been held, the starting grid has not yet been determined. To remind all of you: if qualifying cannot be held due to more bad weather, the starting grid will be determined by the free practice three times. For the race, weather forecasts show that there will be the least amount of rain during the race.
Lewis Hamilton is the clear pick for the race victory, given the two sessions that we have saw this weekend. He topped Saturday practice in the conditions that were considerably worse than the day before. In the rain on Friday, he placed five. If we see any rain on Sunday, it will be more like Friday’s rain. Since Hamilton is good at racing in the rain, he should have an advantage.
The rest of the results will largely be determined by the starting position, as it is more difficult to make an overtake in the wet conditions. This counts Ferrari out of contention for a position in the top five, as they have a ten place grid penalty for engine changes. The Red Bull cars and Toro Rosso are great in the wet conditions, as they have proven with their practice times and previous wet session results. I don’t think that Nico Rosberg stands a chance against Daniil Kvyat. Despite Williams’ poor showing in the rain at the British Grand Prix, they have also shown that they have a fair amount of ability in the wet conditions.
As we continue one of the wettest weekends in Formula One history, I’d like to wish all of the drivers a safe race. Hopefully the weather will improve, as it is a shame for all of the Circuit of The Americas’ hard work to go to waste.
