THE UNITED STATES GP

THE MAIN EVENT

Just six years on from its debut appearance on the Formula 1 calendar, the Circuit Of The Americas has established itself as a firm favourite among drivers and other F1 personnel. The track itself is challenging, and away from the circuit Austin has a distinctively bohemian vibe.

COTA was designed from a clean sheet and makes intelligent use of the local topography, particularly the sharp climb before Turn 1 where the track rises almost 30m, regularly tempting drivers to outbrake themselves. The rest of the circuit is generally fast and flowing, with a couple of hard braking areas to facilitate overtaking and some blind and off-camber corners to boost the difficulty level. But there is plenty of run-off, so generally the only punishment for mistakes comes in the form of lost time.

Some of the kerbs have been modified to militate against corner-cutting after Max Verstappen’s controversial laterace mugging of Kimi Räikkönen last year, but this will still be a tightly contested race… CLASSIC RACE: 1990 The one and only time a Minardi started on the front row of the grid came in the 1990 United States GP at Phoenix. Rain on Saturday meant the grid came from Friday practice, and Goodyear were caught out by Pirelli’s soft rubber which meant Pierluigi Martini lined up alongside polesitter Gerhard Berger’s Mclaren on the front row.

At the start Jean Alesi (Tyrrell) took the lead from Berger and Martini at the first corner, and led for over 30 laps until hunted down by Ayrton Senna’s Mclaren. When the Brazilian passed the Tyrrell on lap 34, Alesi retook the lead before Senna finally made the move stick and went on to win. Alesi was second with Martini a battling seventh.