Round 19 of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, the United States Grand Prix, takes place this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The race is the second of three U.S. races this season, and the first of a North American triple header that includes races in Mexico and Brazil in the coming weeks.
The Circuit of the Americas, which boasts a 3.4-mile track comprised of 20 corners, is one of the best circuits on the calendar, as it was designed primarily with F1 racing in mind. Some of its corners are reminiscent of corners from past and present F1 circuits.
There are also more fast corners than Spa-Francorchamps and more slow corners than the Hungaroring—a combination that makes the track a huge challenge for both teams and drivers.
Pirelli has nominated its mid-range tire compounds for the weekend: the C2 as the white hard, the C3 as the yellow medium, and the C4 as the red soft.
Circuit of the Americas, home of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix
The U.S. Grand Prix is always a fun race to watch and this year there's extra action thanks to the inclusion of the Sprint race on Saturday, followed by the main race on Sunday. This season, the Sprint race has been made a standalone event rather than the qualifier for the main race, as was previously the case. It still has championship points on the table for both drivers and teams, something that enabled Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen to win the 2023 Drivers' title prior to the main race at the previous round in Qatar.
While the 2023 title may have been decided already, the battle for second place is still very much alive and there are still potential records to be broken.
Verstappen also won the Qatar round, which was his 14th win of the season. It means he's on pace to surpass his own record of 15 wins in a single season, which he claimed last year, since there are still five races on the calendar. In the battle for second place, there are now just 30 points separating fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Perez in second place and Mercedes-Benz AMG's Lewis Hamilton in third.
Going into the weekend, Verstappen's points tally in the 2023 Drivers' Championship is an unbeatable 433 points. Perez has 224 points and Hamilton 194 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull was named the title winner at the Japanese Grand Prix. The team currently enjoys 623 points. Mercedes is second with 305 points and Ferrari is third with 285 points. Last year's winner in Texas was Verstappen, driving for Red Bull.
