2019 United States Grand Prix - Austin, 1-3 November

[El Scorchio]

There is currently legislation in the EU system to do away with the summer/winter time changes. If it goes through, Europeans could see the whole thing abolished by 2021 or so.

As it happens, the majority of nations in the world do not observe the practise.

Sorry for the off topic. How about a wildly inaccurate prediction for the race ahead?

BOT, VER, LEC, Hamilton and Vettel collide and retire, racing indecent, which keeps Bottas' slim hopes alive.

Here's a wildly inaccurate prediction. WIlliams 1-2 with Kubica achieving a grand slam over the weekend and winning by 30 clear seconds from Russell.

[Just_a_fan]

The only way Kubica would be that far ahead of Russell is if Russell is in the pits for a cup of tea.

[ubuysa]

Yes the Ferraris will both be sooo desperate to win won't they. Max will be mad. But Lewis can just go for it as actually a dnf doesn't matter

For Hamilton, that's certainly a possibility. I suspect he'll have been very badly scarred by 2007 though and will just want the WDC in the bag. I hope I'm wrong. It'd be great to see a three (hopefully four)-way battle at the front.

It's a sign of how great a job Verstappen has done that, despite being in the RBR, he's only a few points off both of the Ferrari drivers. If he'd had a clean weekend in Mexico, it'd be desperately close for 3rd in the standings. He'll also be super-motivated.

The drag up the hill, plenty of lines into T1...can't wait!

I think Hamilton doesn't even have to score a single point more. Even if he DNFs 3 times on the bounce, Bottas isn't going to win all three remaining races. However, I don't think he'll want to celebrate the championship from the garage after a DNF, or from a non podium position. So I think he'll be throw caution to the wind, be pretty racy and want to mark winning the Championship with a victory at one of his favourite tracks.

Lewis will certainly want to celebrate winning the WDC from the top step of the podium. Although it's mathematically possible, Bottas knows its beyond him now. His best bet is to help get Lewis the win in Austin and then have the whole team supporting him for the last two race wins.

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[LM10]

For Hamilton, that's certainly a possibility. I suspect he'll have been very badly scarred by 2007 though and will just want the WDC in the bag. I hope I'm wrong. It'd be great to see a three (hopefully four)-way battle at the front.

It's a sign of how great a job Verstappen has done that, despite being in the RBR, he's only a few points off both of the Ferrari drivers. If he'd had a clean weekend in Mexico, it'd be desperately close for 3rd in the standings. He'll also be super-motivated.

The drag up the hill, plenty of lines into T1...can't wait!

I think Hamilton doesn't even have to score a single point more. Even if he DNFs 3 times on the bounce, Bottas isn't going to win all three remaining races. However, I don't think he'll want to celebrate the championship from the garage after a DNF, or from a non podium position. So I think he'll be throw caution to the wind, be pretty racy and want to mark winning the Championship with a victory at one of his favourite tracks.

Lewis will certainly want to celebrate winning the WDC from the top step of the podium. Although it's mathematically possible, Bottas knows its beyond him now. His best bet is to help get Lewis the win in Austin and then have the whole team supporting him for the last two race wins.

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If I was Bottas, I surely would not want some extra support to give me unnecessary and kind of “made up” wins. Like getting sweets as a child.

[Big Tea]

Why not split the difference and move them half hour and leave it there?

[godlameroso]

The Red Bull is going to be mighty around here, just a hunch. There's only one long straight, lots of slow and mid speed corners, which is where the RB 15 excels, the high speed corners are flat for everyone. Honda has done well even in the McLaren days around here. It'll be just as close as it was in Mexico, just hoping for a clean race from Verstappen as the race will be his to lose.

[El Scorchio]

The only way Kubica would be that far ahead of Russell is if Russell is in the pits for a cup of tea.

I know! It was the most wildly inaccurate prediction I could think of giving

[ENGINE TUNER]

The Red Bull is going to be mighty around here, just a hunch. There's only one long straight, lots of slow and mid speed corners, which is where the RB 15 excels, the high speed corners are flat for everyone. Honda has done well even in the McLaren days around here. It'll be just as close as it was in Mexico, just hoping for a clean race from Verstappen as the race will be his to lose.

Nope, the running order in COTA will be be very much like in Suzuka. RBR looked unusually good in Mexico because of the high altitude. Normal service will return in COTA.

[zibby43]

I think this is the least likely Ferrari pole of the remaining races - yes, some long straights but I expect a very strong Mercedes through the esses, and there’s a lot of time to be won and lost there.

I would agree with you, but we saw a Ferrari front row in Japan, with all those esses, 1 big straight, I guess COTA has a couple more slow speed speed corners though. But I still think Ferrari will be favorites for saturday.

After Japan, it was revealed that the heavy, gusty winds from the remnants of the typhoon wreaked havoc with the Mercedes FW design (and the rest of their aero), which is far more sensitive to gusty wind than the relatively less-loaded, slightly less complex designs on the Ferrari.

That hurt Mercedes through the high-speed stuff at Suzuka.

[NathanOlder]

Hope that's right, I guess we will find out in S1 at COTA.

[auv]

The Red Bull is going to be mighty around here, just a hunch. There's only one long straight, lots of slow and mid speed corners, which is where the RB 15 excels, the high speed corners are flat for everyone. Honda has done well even in the McLaren days around here. It'll be just as close as it was in Mexico, just hoping for a clean race from Verstappen as the race will be his to lose.

Not sure about mid speed stuff, but I'm expecting Max to be fastest through twitchy parts of S1 & S2. He actually was fastest through T7-T11 section in Mexico.

[NathanOlder]

The Red Bull is going to be mighty around here, just a hunch. There's only one long straight, lots of slow and mid speed corners, which is where the RB 15 excels, the high speed corners are flat for everyone. Honda has done well even in the McLaren days around here. It'll be just as close as it was in Mexico, just hoping for a clean race from Verstappen as the race will be his to lose.

Not sure about mid speed stuff, but I'm expecting Max to be fastest through twitchy parts of S1 & S2. He actually was fastest through T7-T11 section in Mexico.

Im not so sure, as last year shows. RedBull was 0.150 ahead of Merc in Mexico, but 1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA. I assume last year the RedBull was strongest through T7-11 in Mexico, but were obviously way off in all sectors of CoTA.

[Wouter]

Im not so sure, as last year shows. RedBull was 0.150 ahead of Merc in Mexico, but 1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA. I assume last year the RedBull was strongest through T7-11 in Mexico, but were obviously way off in all sectors of CoTA.

" ....1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA." That was in qualifying. Did you see the race pace?
Quicker on older tires than Mercedes. Here you can see the sector times of each round with the tires.

https://f1.tfeed.net/2018/austin

[godlameroso]

The Red Bull is going to be mighty around here, just a hunch. There's only one long straight, lots of slow and mid speed corners, which is where the RB 15 excels, the high speed corners are flat for everyone. Honda has done well even in the McLaren days around here. It'll be just as close as it was in Mexico, just hoping for a clean race from Verstappen as the race will be his to lose.

Not sure about mid speed stuff, but I'm expecting Max to be fastest through twitchy parts of S1 & S2. He actually was fastest through T7-T11 section in Mexico.

Im not so sure, as last year shows. RedBull was 0.150 ahead of Merc in Mexico, but 1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA. I assume last year the RedBull was strongest through T7-11 in Mexico, but were obviously way off in all sectors of CoTA.

Red Bull have a much more powerful engine than last year. This year, they're faster than last year with less downforce, the only answer is that they have more power which is compensating for the lower amount of downforce. Despite this, Red Bull is actually the fastest car in low and mid speed corners, but not as fast as Mercedes in high speed corners, and slower than Ferrari in top speed. So I guarantee they will be competitive at COTA, will they be miles ahead, probably not. Will they be up there, yes, absolutely.

Curiously, there will be a tailwind down the back straight on race day, as well as a head wind through the esses.

I expect the leader's pace to be in the 39's to start and end in the 36's, and pole in the 32's.

[El Scorchio]

I think Ferrari->Merc->Red Bull like most races. But we will see...