The Hype : 2021 United States GP
Circuit of the Americas → Austin, Texas
Free Practice 1 & 2 are done at the 2021 United States GP, while we didn’t get to see anything surprising like an Alfa Romeo on top of the time sheets — we have a fair amount of things to talk about ahead of the Race on Sunday.
The WarmUp
Formula 1 has been racing in Austin since 2012 [apart from 2020] and the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team have six pole positions and five race wins to their name. With an incredible climb up the hill to Turn 1, starts at COTA are a feast for a fan’s eyes.
This is the first of the final six races of the 22 race calendar Formula 1 had this season and all eyes on the title contenders who have been trading the lead of the Championship one race after the other, Max Verstappen and Sir Lewis Hamilton. Ahead of the 2021 United States GP, Verstappen leads the Championship with a mere six points.
Drivers’ Special Helmet Designs
Ten Drivers on the Grid are running special crash helmets for the United States GP with the designs of Valtteri Bottas, George Russell, Lando Norris and the Haas Drivers, Schumacher & Mazepin paying tribute to the beautiful country and track Formula 1 has been visiting since 2012.
Charles Leclerc & Lance Stroll’s designs are sponsor related while Fernando Alonso’s special helmet is to show his support for La Palma, part of the Canary Islands, whose citizens are currently suffering through a volcanic eruption. Yuki Tsunoda & Daniel Ricciardo join the list with the latter’s design being a tribute to his childhood hero, Dale Earnhardt Sr.
To know more about each of the ten drivers’ helmet designs for the United States GP, read The Helmets of the 2021 United States GP [Coming Soon]
Penalties ahead of the Race
Sebastian Vettel & George Russell will both be running their fourth power units [PU] respectively at the United States GP. Running more than three PUs in a single season for a single car, warrants the driver to start from the back of the Grid.
Valtteri Bottas has received a 5 place Grid penalty for the use of the sixth Internal Combustion Engine [ICE] in his car. He does not receive a 10 place grid penalty as given to Hamilton at the Turkish GP since as per FIA regulations, drivers who have already gone beyond the three ICE limit for a season do not receive a ten place grid penalty but receive a five place penalty instead.
On Track
While Fernando Alonso had his FP1 cut short early into the session due to water leaking out of his car and Charles Leclerc was on the gravel in FP2, there was no incident including the two I just mentioned that would have lasting effects on the car or to the driver’s start in the race to come.
Valtteri Bottas topped the time sheets in FP1 with Verstappen second fastest and Hamilton third fastest. In FP2, all eyes were on the title contenders as they had a moment on track when both were about to start their respective flying laps and found themselves going wheel to wheel all the way up the hill into Turn 1, a precursor to what we’ll get to watch on Sunday.
FP2 ended with Perez being fastest of all drivers, Norris second fastest and Hamilton third fastest. Verstappen couldn’t set a quicker lap time having been sent out during traffic — he wasn’t too happy about it on the radio either. The Mercedes Drivers mentioned how they felt they had a lost out on pace to their closest competitors after seeing RedBull’s performance in FP2 and assured that there’s a lot of work to do before Qualifying if they want to stay ahead of their rivals.
What to Expect in Qualifying?
To no one’s surprise, Mercedes will be incredibly strong in Qualifying with their unbeaten record of picking up Pole Position at the Circuit of the Americas since 2014. Sir Lewis Hamilton for Pole then? But let’s not take away the possibility of Bottas picking up Pole and then starting P5 as well, he’s been incredibly strong in qualifying for the past few race weekends and he was both Pole Sitter and Winner of the 2019 United States GP, the last time F1 raced at the track.
One thing’s for sure, if the RedBull drivers qualify next to Hamilton, he’s going to have his hands full into Turn 1 on Race Day like he did back in 2018 when Kimi Raikkonen got ahead of him and went on to win the race. This will be RedBull’s goal for the session if they can’t close the gap to Mercedes for Pole considering the penalty for Bottas presents this opportunity.
Does that FP2 result show evidence that RedBull have a shot at possibly doing better than Mercedes in Qualifying, is a question whose answer we’ll find out in Qualifying itself if not Free Practice 3.
Who do you think will be the Top 3 at the end of Qualifying? Go drop your prediction here.
