Everything you need to know about the coming 2023 USA F1 GP

The 2023 United States Grand Prix will be the 18th race of the 2023 Formula 1 season, and it comes right after both the Constructors' and Drivers' championships sealed in favour of Red Bull, whose dominance allowed Max Verstappen to easily win the World Championship.

The Return of McLaren

The weekend will be celebrated under the Sprint format for the second consecutive round, which has not happened since the Sprints were invented in 2021.

The weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin will be the fifth of six Sprint weekends set for the 2023 campaign, with the final one coming up in Brazil.

To this point, Red Bull has won 16 of the 17 races in the 2023 F1 calendar and the trend could easily continue in the United States, where Max Verstappen has won the last two events.

McLaren could be the main threat to Red Bull in the upcoming race, with Oscar Piastri coming from a victory in the Sprint at Qatar, and the team finished the weekend with a double podium on Sunday.

Moreover, McLaren has finished on the podium in the last three races in a row and has scored the most points among teams in those three events (104, with Red Bull as the closest in that regard with 74).

McLaren (219 points) is now fifth in the WCC, but the trend and performance could definitely see the team at least positioned in fourth among teams at the end of the season, surpassing Aston Martin (230) and possibly closing in on Mercedes (326) and Ferrari (298) in a fight for P2.

In terms of the Drivers' Championship, Lewis Hamilton (194 points) and Fernando Alonso (183) are still fighting for third in the championship, and could put pressure on Red Bull's second driver, Sergio Pérez, who is second with 224 points. With McLaren's surge in performance, Lando Norris is now seventh in the WDC and just 17 points behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who is fifth, and nine points behind the other Ferrari racer, Charles Leclerc, who is in sixth.

2023 USA F1 GP Facts & Figures

The 2023 edition of the US Grand Prix will be the 75th Formula 1 World Championship race held in the country and the second of three in the US in 2023, after the Miami Grand Prix and before the Las Vegas race.

Of course, the United States’ story in the Formula 1 World Championship is full of different stages, as the country has held over 70 Grands Prix already (the fourth-most in F1 history), but the 2023 event will be the 44th race with the “US Grand Prix” title that is part of the World Championship of Drivers.

The country has hosted seven different GPs by title, including the Indianapolis 500 (11 between 1950 and 1960), US Grand Prix (four different eras since 1959), US Grand Prix West (eight between 1976 and 1983), a couple of Caesars Palace GPs in 1981 and 1982, Detroit GP (from 1982 to 1988), Dallas GP in 1984 and the Miami Grand Prix since 2022.

En eighth GP by title in the US will be added in 2023, with the Las Vegas GP coming up on November 18th.

No other country has hosted more different GPs by name than the US, with Italy coming in second place in that regard with five (Italian, Pescara, San Marino, Tuscan and Emilia Romagna GP).

The United States Grand Prix has been held in six different circuits, starting with Sebring in 1959, Riverside in 1960, Watkins Glen from 1961 to 1980, Phoenix from 1989 to 1991, Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 2000 to 2007, and Austin from 2012.

The event has seen pretty much all sides of Formula 1, including tragic scenes, championship-winning efforts, maiden wins, scandals, a six-car race, a famous return to the top of the podium, and more.

Sir Jack Brabham clinched the first of his three World Drivers’ Championships at the US, in 1959, while Innes Ireland gave Team Lotus its first win in 1961 at Watkins Glen, and his only Grand Prix triumph. Jochen Rindt achieved his maiden win at the US in 1969, while Emerson Fittipaldi’s first-ever win clinched the posthumous WDC for Rindt, who had tragically died at Monza earlier in 1970, and the 1970 World Constructors’ Championship for Lotus.

Francois Cevert won the 1971 event, but his story with the circuit ended tragically in 1973 when he died during practice for the race. Cevert was Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell teammate, and he had finished second in 1972 in a 1-2 for the team.

Stewart retired right before the 1973 event due to Cevert’s death. He had already planned to retire after winning his third Formula 1 championship but did not start what would’ve been his 100th Grand Prix after his friend’s death.

During the US Grand Prix’s first decades in the F1 circus, the race was often scheduled as the last race of the year or near the end of the calendar, which is why some titles were decided in the US.

In 1974, Emerson Fittipaldi sealed his second Formula 1 World Championship driving his McLaren M23, and beating Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni for the WDC. However, the race was marred by the fatal accident of Austrian Helmuth Koinigg.

Austrian legend Niki Lauda sealed his second Formula 1 World Championship driving his Ferrari 312T2 to P4 while James Hunt took his second consecutive win at the US.

The last F1 race held at Watkins Glen came in 1980, with Alan Jones winning with Carlos Reutemann second in a Williams 1-2. World Champions Fittipaldi and Jody Scheckter competed in F1 for the final time during the 1980 event.

The US Grand Prix returned to the calendar in 1989 and was held at Phoenix until 1991. Those years were in the middle of the McLaren-Honda domination, and the team won all three races at Phoenix, with Alain Prost winning in 1989 and Ayrton Senna in 1990 and 1991.

The event was again out of the calendar for nine years until its return in 2000, but this time, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway held the US round in its Grand Prix Road Course, which was 4.192 km long.

Podium 2002 US F1 GP: 1. Barrichello 2. Schumacher 3. Coulthard

The US Grand Prix took place at Indianapolis eight times, and Ferrari won six times, with Michael Schumacher winning five races and ‘giving’ Rubens Barrichello the 2002 event by 0.011 seconds.

In the 2001 event, Mika Hakkinen took the 20th and last win of his Formula 1 career for McLaren-Mercedes, while Lewis Hamilton achieved his second GP win in 2007 after a battle with teammate Fernando Alonso.

The 2005 US Grand Prix saw only the six Bridgestone-equipped teams compete as a result of a massive withdrawal from those teams with Michelin tyres (including frontrunners Renault and McLaren) due to safety concerns.

The six-car race was definitely a weird sight for F1 fans on the circuit and watching on TV and was won by Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari 1-2, while Tiago Monteiro achieved the only podium of his career for Jordan.

The 2007 event was the last F1 race at Indy to date, as financial issues generated by the fee paid by the track owners at the time put the track away from the Formula 1 calendar.

The Circuit of the Americas held the return of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in 2012 and the Hermann Tilke-designed track lived up to expectations and earned a good reputation among drivers.

Hamilton won in F1’s return to the United States after a late overtake on Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. It was Hamilton’s final win for McLaren and the second consecutive for him in the US, after his 2007 triumph for the same team.

Vettel went on to win from Pole Position in 2013, in what was his eighth consecutive victory of the season and established a new record (which would go to nine straight wins in the final race of that season, broken by Max Verstappen this year).

Hamilton then won for Mercedes from 2014 to 2017, while Kimi Raikkonen famously won the 2018 event driving the Ferrari SF71H ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Hamilton. It was Raikkonen’s first win since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix, his first for Ferrari since the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, and the 21st of his career, breaking Mika Hakkinen’s record for wins by a Finnish driver.

Raikkonen had to wait for 113 races to return to the top of the podium, which is the longest gap between wins by a driver in F1 history.

Hamilton finished second in the 2019 event, behind another Finnish race-winner at Austin, Valtteri Bottas, and secured his sixth Formula 1 World Championship. The pandemic did not allow the race to go ahead in 2020, but it made a big return with the 2021 round, with Verstappen's Red Bull winning ahead of Hamilton.

The 2022 race saw another fight for the win between Verstappen and Hamilton, with the Dutchman winning the event for the second straight season.

Among drivers, Sir Lewis Hamilton is the all-time leader in wins at the United States Grand Prix with six, one at Indy and five at Austin. Among teams, Ferrari leads with 10 triumphs, ahead of Lotus and McLaren (eight each).

Circuit of the Americas Track Info

The Circuit of the Americas, at Austin, Texas, is a 5.513-km-long circuit designed by Hermann Tilke.

The circuit has it all, with a tremendous first sector that is similar to the Suzuka esses or the Maggotts-Becketts-Chapel section of Silverstone, a long back straight (1.00 km), and a multi-apex right-hander in the final sector which is similar to Istanbul’s Turn 8.

It has 20 turns and is a complex that requires good setup compromise to cope with many curves, a long straight, and elevation changes.

Mainly during MotoGP outings, riders have been very vocal while criticizing the bumpy nature of the circuit, but organizers have been a bit diligent and the surface has been smoothed out in 2022 to give a better feel to competitors and improve safety.

The lap records at the Circuit of the Americas were established by Charles Leclerc, driving for Ferrari in 2019, with a 1:36.169 min lap in the 2019 race. Valtteri Bottas established the outright Fastest Lap in Qualifying for the 2019 race, with a 1:32.029 min lap in the Mercedes W10.

2023 USA F1 Grand Prix - Tyres

The dry tyres for the 2023 US Grand Prix will be the C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow Medium, and C4 as P Zero Red soft.

Pirelli's Motorsport Director, Mario Isola, explained Pirelli's view for the upcoming events: "Austin kicks off a series of four races – three of them run consecutively – on the American continent. And it all begins with the United States Grand Prix: a land that is steeped in motorsport tradition but has truly made its F1 presence felt only in the last few years, thanks to all the different initiatives implemented by Liberty Media in a number of different areas.

The Circuit of the Americas has hosted the United States Grand Prix every year since 2012, with the exception of 2020 when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I would describe COTA as a complete track, with medium to high levels of downforce. Turn 1, a left-hander, is particularly distinctive at the end of a 22-metre climb, covered within just 200 metres of track distance.

It makes the start particularly interesting, with drivers heading in a number of different directions to find the best line. That corner leads into a flowing first sector, characterised by a series of medium to fast corners all the way to the hairpin that is Turn 11. That’s then followed by a long straight leading into the final part of the track, which is instead typified by a series of slower and 90-degree corners.

The forces at work on the tyres are mainly lateral, and they are quite well balanced between front and rear, without a specific corner of the car being subjected to particular stress. It’s also important to have good traction in the slow corners.

The asphalt is still quite bumpy, despite the partial resurfacing that took place last year. This can lead to the tyre sliding very slightly, which is a potential cause of overheating. The degradation seen at Austin is mostly thermal, while graining is quite a rare occurrence, The race has always been held in autumn: a time of year when the weather can be very changeable, even within a very short time span. It’s not uncommon to see alternately sunny and rain days, with a wide range of temperatures.

The Sprint format comes to Austin for the first time this year; another opportunity for a fanbase that is becoming more and more enthusiastic about modern F1 to soak up some spectacular action.”

The minimum starting pressures for the tyres will be 23.0 PSI (front) and 20.0 PSI (rear).

2023 USA Grand Prix - Weather Forecast

Friday, Oct 20th - FP & Main Qualifying
Conditions: Sunny and warm
Max. temperature: 36°C
Chance of rain: 0%

Saturday, Oct 21st - Sprint Shootout & Sprint Race
Conditions: Partly sunny and warm
Max. temperature: 36°C
Chance of rain: 3%

Sunday, Oct 22nd - Main Race
Conditions: Partly sunny and warm
Max. temperature: 32°C
Chance of rain: 5%

Who will be on the 2023 USA Grand Prix Podium?

2022 USA F1 GP podium: 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Lewis Hamilton, 3. Charles Leclerc

Red Bull was dominant in 2022 at the Circuit of the Americas and it could be the case again in the 2023 event. The Sprint format could bring some challenges to the Austrian team, and McLaren could be right there with both drivers to look for a huge result for the team.

Ferrari and Mercedes could be mixed between them at Austin, but both teams have simply been unpredictable in 2023 with their performance from one event to the other.

Aston Martin, on its side, is desperate for a big result after a drop in performance in recent weekends.

The prediction for the top three of the 2023 US Grand Prix is 1. Max Verstappen, 2. Lando Norris, 3. Oscar Piastri.

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