US Grand Prix Preview

Written By Adam Apthorpe

A title fight still on and an American on track

The next round of the calendar is this weekends United States Grand Prix. With the driver’s title in the bag, it is still Red Bull and Ferrari fighting it out for top spot in the constructor’s championship.

Looking back to the rain soaked Suzuka where Max Verstappen became the 14th driver to be crowned champion on Japanese soil in an unusual fashion, finding out after the race down in the paddock that Charles Leclerc’s had been awarded a 5 second time penalty ultimately handing him the drivers title which nobody knew about until the screen behind in parc ferme read ‘world champion’ when he was being interviewed by Martin Brundle.

5 Different Drivers Taking Part in Cota

Fridays FP1 session will see 4 new drivers take to the track during the first practice session of the weekend, and Antonio Giovinazzi will be the more experienced one getting back in a car since another session earlier in the season. Yes, ‘Italian Jesus’ himself will be taking Kevin Magnussen’s place for the first hour of the day as Haas are still on the hunt for their second driver to be alongside Kmag next season, could this be Antonio’s last chance to show he’s still a valuable asset to be kept in the sport?

From one Ferrari junior driver to another, Robert Schwartzman will be taking Leclerc’s prancing horse out for a ride to get his first run around the track and name on the board in a competitive session as well.

After giving 1978 World Champion and 82 year old Mario Andretti a run out in a modern formula one car around Laguna Seca, McLaren are set to star Alex Palou for his first run in Daniel Ricciardo’s MCL36. The Spaniard finished 5th in this years IndyCar championship as he is McLaren bound for the following season next March.

Theo Pourchaire will be preheating Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo as the odds look slimmer on getting a seat next season now Zhou Guanyu has resigned a deal with the team. With Haas and Williams still the only teams yet to confirm their second drivers for next year, does Pourchaire need another year in F2 to prove his talent?

Logan Sargeant will take the final seat for FP1 in the Nicholas Latifi’s Williams. Finally! The scene is set for the American to take the reigns of this opportunity and quite possibly be aiming to take this seat next season.

The last time we had an American driver in formula one, was Scott Speed back in 2007 with the Toro Rosso team. The presence of the sport has seen rapid growth over recent years will this be the last chance for many years that the fans have someone to get behind should he get one of the remaining seats? Sargeant has been on quite the charge from the junior series to finishing 3rd in last year’s F2 championship, signing to the Williams academy might have come as a powerplay for his F1 hopes as someone on the grid with stars and stripes can only bring influence to a reforming Grove based Williams team.