Five things you need to know about the United States GP

Even though Sebastian Vettel has won the Driver’s title , exciting battles are expected in the penultimate race of the season for second and third places in the driver and Constructor’s tally. With Kimi Raikkonen ruled out of the remaining two races with a back pain, it’s a battle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. In the Constructor’s table it’s much closer with Mercedes and Ferrari fighting to be the second best team behind Red-Bull. Austin, Texas will host its second race after getting accolades from teams, drivers and fans alike in the inaugural edition.

Here are the five things you need to know about the United States GP

1. Circuit of the Americas

Circuit of the Americas track in Austin,Texas is the sixth venue to host the United States Grand Prix.

The circuit based in Austin, Texas is a purpose built track for Formula One. It is one of the five anticlockwise circuits on the 2013 calendar with Singapore, Brazil, Korea and Abu Dhabi being the other four. The track also has the third highest number of turns at 20. COTA ,as it is popularly known,has intriguing blend of corners, with sections similar to famous stretches of some of the world’s most celebrated tracks such as Silverstone. The track witnessed a packed house at the inaugural race in 2012 with over 1,15,000 fans in attendance.

2. Venues aplenty

United States remained a popular destination in the 80′s with 3 races being held in the country during the 1982 season.

Austin, Texas is the sixth venue to host the United States GP. The other five were Sebring (1959), Riverside (1960), Watkins Glen (1961-80), Phoenix (1989-91) and Indianapolis (2000-07). Indianapolis was also host to the Indianapolis 500(popularly known as Indy500), a race which was part of the Formula One Championship(as a point paying race) from 1950-60.

United States has also been home to multiple Grand Prix’s under different names. Long Beach hosted United States GP West (1976-83) , Las Vegas hosted the Caesars Palace Grand Prix(1981-82) , Detroit hosted the Detroit Grand Prix (1982-88) and Dallas hosted the Dallas Grand Prix(1984). 1982 had three races from United States at Long Beach, Las Vegas and Detroit. 2014 season could witness a second race in the United States – the Grand Prix of America in New Jersey in addition to the race in Austin.

3. Michael Schumacher rules America

Michael Schumacher remains the driver to beat with 5 wins at the United States GP.

This is one record that Sebastian Vettel will need some time to break. Michael Schumacher by far remains the most successful driver at the United States GP with 5 wins. He won in the year 2000 and from 2003 to 2006. The other successful drivers include Jim Clark(1962,1966-67) and Graham Hill(1963-65) with three wins each. Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in the current line up with two United States GP wins(2007 at Indianapolis and 2012 at Austin). However, despite a heavy representation from the United States in Formula One, a US driver is yet to win the home Grand Prix. There is no driver from the country on the current set of drivers and the last driver to represent United States in a Formula One race was Scott Speed in 2007.

Ferrari remains ahead in the constructor’s race with 9 wins in the United States followed by Mclaren and Lotus with 8.

4. The Dubious Record

2005 United States GP saw just 6 drivers start the race due to a protest by other drivers against Michelin tyres.

The 2005 United States GP will go down in the history for all the wrong reasons. Tyre issues with Michelin led to seven teams withdrawing from the race after the formation lap. Only the three teams (six cars) with Bridgestone tires started the 2005 United States Grand Prix. That gave the Grand Prix a dubious record of a race with fewest starters. The race was eventually won by Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari.

5. The closet modern-day race finish

Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher made it to the record books being involved in the second closet race finish in F1 history at the United States GP in 2002.

The 2002 race held in Indianapolis witnessed the second ever closest finish to a race in Formula 1’s long and dramatic history. Teammates Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher raced side by side to the finish line. In the end it was Rubens Barrichello who won the race in a photo-finish taking the Chequered Flag with the difference between the two drivers being just 0.011 seconds on the time sheets.