Welcome everyone! Whether you are a longtime watcher of Formula 1, or just tuning in for the first time this weekend, we’re happy to have you! The second break of the Formula 1 season is finally over and the F1 teams will be traveling down to Texas to start the last 6 races of the season. Max Verstappen driver of the Number 1 Red Bull comes into this race with a 78-point lead over Lando Norris, Mclaren driver. If Norris were to win the next 6 races and Verstappen were to finish second to Norris in all of those races, Verstappen would still end up the champion. Norris will be looking to take any mistake Verstappen makes this weekend and turn it into an advantage for himself and McLaren. It was said on the last race weekend that McLaren changed the ‘papaya rules’ to help Norris in any way possible to win the race. Will ‘papaya rules’ come into play this weekend at COTA, especially with 8 extra points up for grabs in a sprint weekend?

COTA Track Facts

Circuit of the Americas is located in Austin, Texas. COTA is a 5.513km/3.41 mi track. It has 20 turns, and 2 DRS zones. It will be a 56-lap race on Sunday and a 17-lap sprint on Saturday.

Turn one in Austin is one of the greatest first corners of the season. The run from pole is 500m but the track goes steeply uphill, with the turn-in point for the corner at the crest.

The lap record was set in 2019 by Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari with a 1:36.169min lap time, the record pole time was set in the same year but by Valterri Bottas. His lap time was 1:32.029 in the Mercedes W10.

Previous 5 Winners

2023: Verstappen – Red Bull

2022: Verstappen – Red Bull

2021: Verstappen – Red Bull

2019: Bottas – Mercedes

2018: Raikkonen – Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

October 18th: Practice 1 – 1:30 PM EST

October 18th: Sprint Qualifying – 5:30 PM EST

October 19th: Sprint Race – 2:00 PM EST

October 19th: Qualifying – 6:00 PM EST

October 20th: Race Day – 3:00 PM EST

Now there is not a chance for rain this weekend so expect a dry and sunny weekend, but that doesn’t mean that this weekend won’t provide any exciting moments. This weekend specifically is a sprint weekend, a quick race on Saturday that has 8 total points up for grabs for the winner, 2nd receives 7 points and so on. These races don’t require a pit stop but if you’re involved in a wreck then a pit stop will obviously be necessary.

Mclaren VS Red Bull

Currently Mclaren holds a 41 point lead over Red Bull in the constructors standings, now with these extra 8 points up for grabs this weekend, it could be the weekend Mclaren needs to extend their lead or for Verstappen and Perez to chip away at Mclaren’s lead for another consecutive constructors title. Now Red Bull will be looking at Sergio Perez to help narrow the lead down as he has only scored 144 points this season. It’s obvious that Perez has had recent struggles coming into this season but Red Bull has assured everyone that he is still the man they want behind the wheel. But with 6 races remaining in the season, it is obvious that Red Bull will need a couple consecutive 1-2’s to narrow the gap from Mclaren.

Norris VS Verstappen

Lando Norris has been on an absolute tear this season, 3 wins, 5 poles and 11 podiums so far, he has scored a total of 279 points currently and is only 41 points behind Max Verstappen. Norris will be looking for a big weekend once again to take home the victory for Mclaren. Norris has had some moments where he has made some costly mistakes but it seems like Lando is starting to put all those behind him, and is focusing on the race that will happen, rather then sit and dwell on how he could’ve won that race. Norris does have his work cut out for him if he wants to narrow Verstappen’s lead of the championship but if any driver can do it, i think Lando can. It might be a long shot to call him a champion already, but he is making his name noticed.

Liam Lawson

During this break, it was announced that Liam Lawson would take over driving duties for Daniel Ricciardo, essentially sending Ricciardo home for the remainder of the season so Lawson can get some Formula 1 experience under his belt. Putting myself in RBVCA team shoes, this move does make sense, with HAAS now only 3 points behind RBVCA, it makes sense that they would wanna put a driver that can possibly bring points every week compared to Daniel who was struggling this season, Ricciardo scored a total of 12 points through 16 races of the season. This move is all about the prize money that teams receive for finishing the season in their respective positions, and the sixth and seventh can be the difference between millions of dollars. I am sad that Danny Ric wasn’t able to get a proper send-off though as he has done tremendous work for Red Bull, who is the sister team of VCARB. Like I said I understand the move, but it just shows you, how cold and cruel the world of sports really is.

Points Update

*= Driver no longer with team

NC = Not classified (hasn’t started a race)

Drivers Standings:

Max Verstappen – 331 points

Lando Norris – 279 points

Charles Leclerc – 245 points

Oscar Piastri – 237 points

Carlos Sainz – 190 points

Lewis Hamilton – 174 points

George Russell – 155 points

Sergio Perez – 144 points

Fernando Alonso – 62 points

Nico Hulkenburg – 24 points

Lance Stroll – 24 points

Yuki Tsunoda – 22 points

Alexander Albon – 12 points

Daniel Ricciardo * – 12 points

Pierre Gasly – 8 points

Oliver Bearman * – 7 points

Kevin Magnussen – 6 points

Esteban Ocon – 5 points

Franco Colapinto – 4 points

Zhou Ghanyu – 0 points

Logan Sargeant * – 0 points

Valterri Bottas – 0 points

NC – Liam Lawson – 0 points