United States Grand Prix 2018: What time does the race start, what TV channel is it on and what is our prediction?
What is it?
The 2018 United States Grand Prix, the 18th round of the 2018 Formula One season, taking place in Austin, at the wonderfully-named Circuit of the Americas, to be precise.
When is it?
Qualifying takes place on Saturday October 20 and the race takes place on Sunday October 21.
What time does it start?
It's a much-needed later start for those still trying to catch up with the slumber they lost from the very early Japanese Grand Prix two weeks ago. Qualifying begins at 10pm BST on Saturday whilst the race starts a few hours earlier at 7.10pm BST on Sunday.
What TV channel is it on?
As ever, all the coverage is screened live on Sky Sports F1. Channel 4 also have live coverage. Sky's qualifying coverage starts at 9pm BST. Sky's race program begins at 5.30pm BST on Sunday with On The Grid coverage from 6.30pm. If you fancy tuning into David Coulthard and the gang on C4 then you can watch their qualifying coverage from 8.30pm on Saturday and the race programme from 6.40pm on Sunday.
Plus you can watch the United States Grand Prix through Now TV with a Sky Sports day pass for £7.99.
What happened last year?
Well, it was another win for Lewis Hamilton in Austin, and a win which put him on the verge of his fourth world drivers' title. Hamilton topped all three qualifying sessions, securing pole and took victory ahead of Sebastian Vettel to increase his lead to 66 points. It was his fourth win in a row and fifth in six years at the Circuit of the Americas. Sebastian Vettel is the only other driver to win since F1's return to the United States in 2012.
What are the current standings?
Lewis Hamilton - 331
Sebastian Vettel - 264
Valtteri Bottas - 207
Kimi Raikkonen - 196
Max Verstappen - 173
Daniel Ricciardo - 146
Sergio Perez - 53
Kevin Magnussen - 53
Nico Hulkenberg - 53
Fernando Alonso - 50
What do we know about the Circuit of the Americas?
Circuit length: 5.513km
First grand prix: 2012
Laps: 56
Race distance: 308.405km
Race lap record: 1:37.766 - Sebastian Vettel, 2017
2017 winner: Lewis Hamilton
Number of corners: 20
Tyre compounds to be used: Soft, supersoft, ultrasoft
Overtaking chances: Definitely a chance or two across the lap, the most interesting of all is into turn one, a hairpin at the peak of a hill and DRS assisted. A few other decent places too, although Max Verstappen's enthusiasm for overtaking has been curbed, quite literally, this year. The Dutchman's controversial (well, he lost the position after the race) overtake of Kimi Raikkonen at turn 16 and 17 will be much harder this year as the FIA have installed a sausage curb just inside the apex.
What are the odds (top six)?
Lewis Hamilton 1/2
Sebastian Vettel 11/4
Valtteri Bottas 15/2
Kimi Raikkonen 16/1
Max Verstappen 18/1
Kimi Raikkonen 20/1
What is our prediction?
It's tremendously boring but Lewis Hamilton has won in Austin the last four times and has only been beaten here once, in Sebastian Vettel's dominant 2013 season and when his Mercedes was not quite up to it. He's going to win again, isn't he? Or at least only a fool would predict otherwise. He'll win comfortably, Bottas will be a fairly distant second, Vettel will be a spirited third but that will be the title over.
Podium prediction: 1st Hamilton 2nd Bottas 3rd Vettel
