US Grand Prix Talking Points

Will it go ahead?

Practice two was cancelled yesterday due to an electrical storm- and the weather doesn’t look like easing today either.

There is a very realistic chance that qualifying will be cancelled and put back to Sunday morning- if indeed the weather has disappeared by then.

This means that there is a chance the whole event will be cancelled, effectively sealing Lewis Hamilton’s world championship.

What’s more, the hurricane is heading south towards Mexico- the scene of next week’s race!

The future of Red Bull

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has promised that he will have made a final decision on the team’s future participation by the end of the month.

And with the Mexican Grand Prix being staged next week, there is nowhere for the team to hide from the constant media questioning.

Currently, it seems they have two choices ad neither looks too appealing.

They either stay with Renault, and continue their love/hate relationship (which is more hate than love these days), or they do a deal with Honda…

Ferrari and Mercedes have effectively made it too hard for a deal to be done with them, leaving Red Bull in a big hole.

Honda are not expected to produce a race-winning engine next season, while Renault have a lot of ground to make up, so the temptation for Red Bull to quit must be high.

However, is it an empty threat or a real possibility? Stay tuned over the next week.

Engine penalties should be scrapped

F1 2015 has been perhaps the most frustrating season in recent memory, and one of the causes of that is the dreaded engine penalties.

In America, with wet weather taking over, it could have been a chance for Sebastian Vettel to claw back some points on Hamilton- despite how weak and feeble his championship hopes are. Right?

Wrong.

Vettel has been given a 10-place penalty, meaning that Hamilton can just coast to the line to confirm title number three. That spectacle will offer a neat summary of the whole season.

If there is one thing the rule makers change for next year, it has to be the ludicrous engine penalty system. It's one of many things ruining the spectacle.

Bottas vs. Massa hots up

It’s been bubbling nicely in the background all season, but the inter-team fight at Williams is one of the more fascinating sub-plots to the final few races this season.

Valtteri Bottas has 111 points, Felipe Massa 109.

Massa started the brighter of the two, but Bottas came roaring back in the early European races.

However, Massa re-asserted his authority with some fine performances in the height of summer.

But Bottas has, once again, reeled him in and with just two points between them and four races remaining, these drivers will be racing as hard as they possibly can.

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