2013 United States Grand Prix preview

Last years winner Lewis Hamilton on the podium.

Last year was the first time Austin, Texas hosted a Formula One Grand Prix. It was entertaining at least for me.

The first thing that stayed in my mind was the first corner that is on the top of the hill after the main straight. 

This track is so different from what we usually see.

Interlagos in Brazil has uphill at the main straight and then downhill after the starting grid. Just realized that these two tracks are probably the only ones that have a hill near the main straight and they are right after each other.

Last year in Austin we saw a race that was won by Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren. This year I don't think we will see a McLaren on the podium but it would be nice though. If that happens it's definitely Jenson Button up there.

Interesting fact that Lewis Hamilton is actually the only current driver that has won a race in the United States. He also won in 2007 at Indianapolis but after that F1 hasn't been there at all. Maybe it has something to do with the race in 2005 when only 6 cars started the race. Very embarrassing for the sport but if you wanna blame somebody then the blame is on Michelin or Ferrari.

In 2005 Bridgestone and Michelin supplied the tires for the teams. At Indianapolis Michelin stated that the tires aren't safe on that particular track and that no Michelin teams should race.

Then they came up with an idea that if they would build a shicane at the end of the track, it wouldn't be as dangerous and they could race. The only thing was that every team had to agree on this and they did.. except Ferrari. That's why many travelled all the way to Indianapolis for nothing. It was a disgrace to the sport!

But anyways it's nice that Formula One has returned to the United States but unfortunately there isn't very much to say about this track because it's so new.

Before 2012 Texas has actually hosted a Grand Prix back in 1984. But back then it wasn't in Austin, it was in Dallas and the race was won by Keke Rosberg. On Sunday his son Nico is fighting for points with his teammate Lewis Hamilton. I wish they or somebody else could manage to fight against the Red Bulls because otherwise this is going to be a boring race.

Here are the results from last year:

1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	56	1:35:55.269	2	25
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+0.6 secs	1	18
3	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	+39.2 secs	7	15
4	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	56	+46.0 secs	11	12
5	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+56.4 secs	12	10
6	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	56	+64.4 secs	4	8
7	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	56	+70.3 secs	8	6
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	56	+73.7 secs	6	4
9	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	56	+74.5 secs	9	2
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	56	+75.1 secs	10	1
11	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+84.3 secs	15
12	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	56	+84.8 secs	18
13	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+85.5 secs	17
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	16
15	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	13
16	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	5
17	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	55	+1 Lap	21
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	55	+1 Lap	22
19	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	55	+1 Lap	19
20	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	54	+2 Laps	20
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	54	+2 Laps	23
22	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	54	+2 Laps	24
Ret	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	16	Alternator	3
Ret	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	14	Suspension	14

Now it's time for my guesses:

Pole position: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

Race:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

Surprise: Heikki Kovalainen seems to be a mystery to many but I believe that he will be higher up than Grosjean. This guy is better than many may think. Keep an eye on him if you haven't already done that.

He has been good in the practice sessions so far and is performing stronger than his teammate.