F1 2018: 5 Early Predictions for the US Grand Prix

67 points currently divide defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, from his main title rival from Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel. The Scuderia have all but let this championship race slip away from them, and with only 4 races to go, Hamilton has the chance to secure the world title in Austin itself. Mercedes even look to clinch the Constructor's Championship as Valtteri Bottas has leapfrogged Kimi Raikkonen to third place, leaving both Mercedes ahead of a Ferrari.

All the while, Max Verstappen has taken over Daniel Ricciardo's early lead in the battle between the Red Bulls and has been putting in some showstopping drives. The young Dutchman may well be the next Honda powered World Champion in 2019, but for now, he is seemingly doing his best to get in the way of Vettel as much as possible, although the Dutchman himself doesn't seem to even think there's a title battle anymore.

In Austin this weekend will we see Vettel put up a fight, or will Hamilton inch all the way to the foot of the Championship trophy? While the head of the driver's race isn't the most captivating, could we see a fun battle in the midfield as drivers like Esteban Ocon, Brendon Hartley, Sergio Perez and Sergey Sirotkin look to clinch the final seats as George Russell and Lando Norris have confirmed seats in 2019? What will go down in Austin? We sure don't know, but like always that won't stop us from guessing.

#1 Ricciardo runs it to pole

While Verstappen has been getting the better of Ricciardo, mostly due to factors outside the Australian's control, he hasn't given up yet. Ricciardo is the only driver not named Hamilton or Vettel to win more than one race in 2018.

The Honey Badger has not had the best of luck in the last 9 races, either taking penalties or DNF'ing at least 6. However, as we come to Austin, we see Ricciardo getting a little of that pep in his step back due to his apparent fondness for the states.

We've seen in the past that Ricciardo has a love for Southern Barbecue and of all the drivers on the grid, seemed to have the most fun being announced by Michael Buffer last year. With the Australian heading to Renault in 2019, we see him parlaying his enjoyment of the weekend into a solid performance on Saturday and grabbing pole.

Whether it be due to variable conditions, or to a problem for the Red & Silver cars, we don't know, but we do think that we will be seeing a Bull at the front of the rodeo starting the race on Sunday.

#2 Magnussen gets under someone else's skin

While being an F1 driver will inevitably lead to some conflict on track, no other driver on the current grid seems to be antagonised as much as Kevin Magnussen.

The Danish driver most recently got into it with Charles Leclerc in Suzuka, with the Monegasque driver plainly claiming "Magnussen is, and always will be, stupid!" In the past, Magnussen has also had run-ins with Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, teammate Romain Grosjean, Fernando Alonso and most famously, Nico Hulkenberg.

While the Dane didn't go as far as to telling Leclerc to suck anything, as he did with Hulkenberg, it's clear that he does not intend to yield on the track to anybody.

Currently sitting at a tied 7th with Perez and Hulkenberg in the standings, we see the Haas driver getting into a tangle with someone completely new in Austin. Some of the drivers that he hasn't necessary honked off in the past include Sirotkin, Ocon, Hartley and Valtteri Bottas. Will one of them be prone to an outburst against Magnussen in the USA?

We don't know, but we sure see the Dane being a big talking point coming out of Austin.

#3 Alonso slingshots into the best of the rest

As of right now, the battle for 7th place in the World Driver's Championship is a tense one. With Perez, Hulkenberg and Magnussen all tied at 53 points and Alonso and Ocon right behind with 50 and 49 points respectively. This means that just one big point-score for any of these guys could shuffle the standings from 7th to 11th spectacularly.

We see the one to shuffle being Fernando Alonso, coming off a 2nd-place finish at the 6 Hours of Fuji WEC race. The Spaniard is in his apparent last season in Formula One, and after the added boost of a podium in WEC, we see him coming into Austin with the motivation needed to bag some good points.

While any of Perez, Hulkenberg and Magnussen could easily achieve higher, being in superior cars to the McLaren, if there's anyone who can take advantage of a safety car or variable conditions, it would be Alonso.

#4 Sebastian Vettel doesn't make it on to the podium

If Lewis Hamilton finishes first in Austin, Vettel must finish second in order to keep his championship hopes alive. If Vettel finishes 4th or lower, Hamilton cannot finish first, otherwise, the Mercedes driver will clinch his fifth World Title. This weekend, we see Vettel and Ferrari slipping up in some way again and leaving the German to scramble trying to finish higher than fourth.

With that battle going on internally for Vettel, we see the story of the Grand Prix being whether Hamilton can get to the top step and seal his title. Whether Vettel & Ferrari have another bad strategy call, or whether the Ferrari driver finds himself in another spin, we see Ferrari being as close to the brink of doom a possible. Even if Vettel finishes 1st and Hamilton doesn't score, there will still be a 42 point difference between the two going into Mexico.

However, while Ferrari fans all over would love to see a little hope in Austin, we believe that the Scuderia will once again be pushed off the podium, either by the two Mercedes, or a stray Red Bull with a little extra power.

#5 Raikkonen wins in Austin

With all the focus on Hamilton and Vettel battling for 1st. A little bit of the attention has been taken off the two Finns going at it for 3rd in the World Driver's Championship. And as we have gotten to know Kimi over the past 17 years, the Iceman just might perform best when there are as few eyes on him as possible.

With the Finn going to Sauber next year, he will already be looking forward to being able to perform without the high-pressure environment of Ferrari. And while Hamilton and Vettel are the focus in Austin, we see Raikkonen putting in a drive of his life under relaxed conditions to surpass them and get to P1.

Hamilton has famously never won a race after clinching the world title (in the same season), and if Raikkonen wins in Austin, Hamilton could still clinch the title if he outscores Vettel by eight points, starting his streak of not winning right in America. Either way, we see Ferrari pulling one back in Austin, albeit the wrong one for their liking.

Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.