Key events
Lap 1 of 56: Norris, Leclerc, Sainz (who was quite aggressive at the start), Hamilton and Verstappen are your top five. Piastri and Ocon follow.
It looks like the start was clean – no sign of any damage to anyone.
Lights out!
Up (literally) into Turn 1, Norris accelerates beautifully and takes the lead!
Anne Williams takes up the question I asked earlier: “Is dominance dull ? Well, I had to laugh when Lewis Hamilton complained about this ! Welcome back!”
Not sure if the “welcome back” is for me or for Hamilton, but thanks very much in either case.
Ian Simmins also answers: “F1 has been through it before Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Vettel. Verstappen is not to blame, his competition is not doing enough.”
What can they do differently? I’m particularly baffled that Mercedes have fallen so far behind Red Bull. Is Verstappen that much better, or is it the equipment?
We have drivers in cars. The pre-race ceremonies, which seemed subdued compared with what we saw in Miami (LL Cool J!), have finished.
It’s a sedate national anthem by someone I don’t know.
But I already have mail! Bill Preston writes:
“If there’s one driver getting a stomp on as the lights go out every race, and riding that superiority to victory then it’s easy to get mired in the “oh, it’s all a bit dull” quag.
“However, if we shift our focus and see the leaps, bounds, and pure thrilling heroics by teams and drivers that aren’t quite yet at the apex of the regulatory corner, then it’s a stunning spectacle.
“Sports tell a story, and it’s storytelling at its greatest when you look away from the main hero to see what the other characters are doing.”
Fair point, and there are indeed some good stories farther down the grid. From my perspective as someone from the land of stars and stripes, the big question is whether the investments in hosting races and airing engaging documentary series will pay off at some point with a stronger US presence in the driver or constructor championships. There’s also the persistence of Fernando Alonso. And a good race for second place on the season.
For Adrian Fowell, the story is ugly Americans: “Nothing says that F1 should stay away from countries that don’t give a damn about it, than not knowing that (Hamilton) frequently uses a scooter in GP.”
Proves that I often tune out during the pre-race walk through the grid, though it seems very much in turn with American sensibilities toward celebrity obsession.
Speaking of which, we’re being treated once again to the Adam Driver intro. He’s in the upcoming film Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton is inexplicably going to his car on a scooter.
Rory McIlroy is among the celebrities standing around the grid today, and he’s offering up a bit of Ryder Cup trash talk. Yeah, well … how’s Northern Ireland doing in basketball? So … there.
Is dominance dull?
Verstappen has been virtually unbeatable this season and last. Does that dominance diminish your enjoyment of Formula 1? Or do you like watching on the off chance that this is the week he’ll lose? Or do you like seeing one of the best F1 drivers of all time just coming into his prime?
In other philosophical questions, who is this Elton John impersonator playing on the broadcast right now?
The grid
This is the 18th of 22 races this season. The teams will remain in the Americas through mid-November, going to Mexico City, Sao Paulo and the highly anticipated stop in Las Vegas — before finishing up in Abu Dhabi.
Here’s a look at the starting grid and each driver’s prospects for accomplishing something of note this season …
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – dueling with teammate Sainz for fifth place.
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – had a rough go of it early in the season but is a solid seventh after some podium finishes.
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – the seven-time champion is only 27 points out of second place.
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race this season.
5. George Russell (Mercedes) – currently eighth behind fellow British driver Norris.
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – clinched the season title … before the season started, it seems.
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – in 10th by one point over Stroll.
8. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – in 12th but close to Gasly and Stroll.
9. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – desperately trying to hold off Hamilton for a 1-2 Red Bull season finish.
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – ninth, far behind Russell but far ahead of Gasly.
11. Yuko Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – just three points thanks to three 10th-place finishes.
12. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) – multiply Tsunoda’s results by two. He has six points from three ninth-place finishes.
13. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) – 14th place, or first among the drivers with no hope of reaching the top 10.
*14. Kevin Magnusson (Haas) – the US team has only 12 points on the year. Magnusson has three of them.
15. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) – the affable Australian was without a ride at the beginning of the season but was brought in to replace Nyck de Vries halfway through the season. He then broke a bone in his left hand and missed a few races but returns today looking for his first points of the season.
*16. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) – the record-holder for most starts without a podium finish has nine points.
*17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – the 2005 and 2006 champion is only 18 points behind Hamilton in his quest to make the final podium.
18. Alex Albon (Williams) – currently 13th but would need to finish higher than his season-high seventh at some point to have a realistic shot at the top 10.
*19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – sandwiched between Alpine’s Gasly and Ocon in the race for 10th.
20. Logan Sargeant (Williams) – the only US driver in F1 has been shutout this season.
However — Haas and Aston Martin decided to tweak some things in their cars, which means they will have to start from pit lane. That means the actual bottom seven will be:
14. Ricciardo
15. Albon
16. Sargeant
Then Magnusson, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Stroll will emerge from pit lane like cicadas every 17 years.
Death. Taxes. Verstappen.
The champion has won 14 of 17 races this season. Will he struggle to make it 15 out of 18 after an error in qualifying left him sixth in the grid? Probably not, but we’ll watch anyway as the global racing circuit tackles the intriguing speedway in Texas. At the very least, he’ll have to pass someone – and we’ll have some intriguing contests for the other places on the final podium as the season draws closer to its close.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Giles Richards’ look at F1’s attempt to return a woman to the grid.
