Preview United States Grand Prix | Can Verstappen match his own record?
Red Bull Content Pool
F1 News
- Nicole Mulder
This weekend, the United States Grand Prix is on the calendar. Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have already clinched the world title, but winning remains the goal. Red Bull wants to do everything they can to retain Sergio Perez's second place in the drivers' championship. We look ahead to the race weekend and summarise what we can look forward to during the Formula 1 weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.
United States Grand Prix
The race in Austin is called the US GP, but these days it is not the only F1 race held in the United States. In 2022, the Miami GP was added for the first time. And this year, the Las Vegas GP will be added. As a result, there are three race weekends in the US on the current F1 calendar.
The US GP has taken place at as many as 11 different tracks. The first US GP was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1950 in the first-ever F1 season. In 1981, the Grand Prix was also run once at the car park of Ceasars Palace, a hotel in Las Vegas. The 12th event to be added to this list in 2023 in Las Vegas is likely to be much grander.
Verstappen can equal own record
With five Grands Prix to go, Red Bull already has both world titles. The constructors' title was secured in Japan, while Verstappen secured his third world title among drivers at the sprint race in Qatar. At that point, there were still six races to go, equalling Michael Schumacher's record from 2002.
In 2022, Verstappen broke a record shared until then by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. He won 15 races during the season, and few at the time thought it possible that that feat could be surpassed in the near future. Meanwhile, the Dutchman already stands at 14 wins in 2023 and could already match his own record in Austin. He could extend it further in the four F1 races to follow.
What can McLaren do about the RB19's killer pace?
McLaren has been playing a huge amount of catch-up in the last few race weekends. Given the deficit with which the Woking-based team started the F1 season, the formation is currently battling Aston Martin for fourth place in the championship. In reality, the team of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella currently seems to be the second team on the grid behind Red Bull.
Also in Qatar, Verstappen again shared the podium with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The latter even managed to win the sprint race on Saturday. It is therefore expected that McLaren will again be Red Bull's main challenger, but at the same time, Norris and Piastri will have to keep looking in their mirrors, as the difference between Mercedes and Ferrari remain small.
Weather forecast in Texas
After the sweltering heat of Qatar, little cooling awaits Formula 1 drivers. High temperatures are also forecast for the United States GP, although it cools down more overnight. From Thursday, temperatures rise to above 30 degrees Celsius and the heat is expected to persist throughout the weekend.
With a temperature of 33 degrees, Thursday is still one of the 'cooler' days ahead of the race weekend in Austin. Weather.com predicts the hottest day of the weekend on Friday, with a maximum temperature as high as 36 degrees. On Saturday and Sunday, clouds increase slightly, and it will be 34 and 32 degrees, respectively.
Timetable for the United States Grand Prix 2023 [UK times]
Friday
Free practice: 18:30 - 19:30
Qualifying: 22:00 - 23:00
Saturday
Sprint Shootout: 18:30 - 19:14
Sprint Race: 23:00 - 00:00
Sunday
Race: 20:00 - 22:00