Formula 1 racing is coming to America.  The penultimate race of the 2013 Formula One season, the United States Grand Prix, takes place for the second time at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on Sunday, November 17.

Here’s a few points that make the United States Grand Prix Track so special.

• Eight of the circuit’s 20 corners are taken at lateral loads over 3G and nine in fifth gear or higher
• Lewis Hamilton has raced twice at the United States Grand Prix (2007, 2012) and won both times
• Last year’s United States Grand Prix was notable for featuring the fewest pit stops (24) of any race of the year

Nico Rosberg

The first race at the Circuit of the Americas last year was great and it immediately became one of my favourite weekends of the year. The track has a similar layout to Suzuka in the first section and is very fast with good long straights and the DRS zone for overtaking. The big uphill section at the start of the lap is very unique as you’re looking straight up into the sky and then suddenly you’re in the middle of the corner. We’ve built up some momentum over the last couple of races and I hope we can have another good weekend in Austin and maintain our position of second place in the Championship.

Lewis Hamilton

I’m really looking forward to returning to Austin this weekend. I love the States and the first race at the Circuit of the Americas last year was such a great occasion, particularly for me as I was lucky enough to win! The enthusiasm and passion from the fans at the new venue was amazing and it was fantastic to see the support at the track and in the city; Austin is such a cool place. The track itself is a lot of fun and a real challenge to get the perfect lap. The high-speed changes of direction combined with the long straights and slower sections make it quite tricky to find the right set-up and balance. We’re going into the final two races with one aim in mind and that’s to finish second. It would mean so much to everyone at the team and we’re determined to achieve it. Hopefully we can start with a strong weekend and some good points in Austin.

Ross Brawn

Formula One’s return to America last year was a huge success and we’re delighted to be heading back to Texas for our second visit this weekend. The Circuit of the Americas is a fantastic facility which provides a fitting venue and showcase for our sport in a very important market. It was very rewarding last year to see the packed grandstands and experience the welcome that we received in the city of Austin. The final two race weekends of the season are extremely important for our team and the outcome will determine how our season is judged. We’ve gained some momentum from two strong weekends in India and Abu Dhabi which consolidated our position in the Constructors’ Championship but we can’t take anything for granted. Everyone at the team has been and will continue to work extremely hard to ensure that we can outperform our rivals and achieve our goal.

Toto Wolff

As a team, we have built some good momentum in the past two races, outscoring our direct rivals and showing our determination to hold on to second place in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s our clear focus and we have been working hard since Abu Dhabi to see how we can give the drivers a more raceable package for the final leg of the season. Nico will be out to maintain his strong finishing record, after two consecutive podiums, while Lewis showed last year that he is very comfortable on this circuit. It will be an intensely hard-fought weekend for the entire team.

At the last time Formula One race in the US, McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, was victorious. It seems not much has change as Hamilton battled Sebastian Vettel and emerged again victorious in the first United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday.

Hamilton started on the dirty side of the grid and came out of the first corner third behind the Red Bulls, Vettel and Mark Webber. But, after passing by Webber on the fourth lap, after a previous attempt that didn’t go as planned, he got to work catching up to Vettel.

Vettel, however, proved a far tougher nut to crack, and after getting the gap down to less than a second, Hamilton began to lose ground just prior to his pit stop on the 20th lap. After a switch to harder Pirelli tire, he managed to close in again, and finally made a move that stuck, using his DRS to pass Vettel down the back straight on the 42nd lap, the Red Bull having been delayed slightly by traffic in the esses earlier in the lap. The German tried all he could to stick with him, but just didn’t quite have the McLaren’s pace, and as Hamilton had discovered, following was a whole lot harder than leading.

Behind them, and after a bit of tactical trickery by Ferrari, another superb drive from Alonso kept the Spaniard in play for the world championship.

Before the start much was made about the state of the track on the left-hand side of the grid, particularly by Hamilton who qualified second. Ferrari were so concerned, with Alonso due to start eighth, that they deliberately broke a seal on Felipe Massa’s gearbox so that he would get a five-place grid penalty that would move Alonso to seventh, on the clean side.

The ploy worked to perfection. Alonso jumped up to fourth behind the Red Bulls and Hamilton, closing out Michael Schumacher in Turn One, and thus immediately put himself in the lowest position he needed, assuming that Vettel won, to keep the title battle open. He rose to third when Webber’s car stopped after 16 laps with alternator failure, and stayed there to the flag, secure in the knowledge that Massa had climbed back up to fourth after his enforced grid penalty and thus had his back. It was a noteworthy run by the Brazilian.

Behind them, Jenson Button hauled his McLaren to fifth after starting on the harder tire and running until the 32nd lap before changing to the mediums. He conquered the Lotuses of Kimi Raikkkonen and Romain Grosjean, both of whom looked strong at one time. The Finn seemed a possible podium contender for a while, while the Frenchman recovered from an early spin and pit stop.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg ran fifth for some time before the Lotuses hit their stride, and stayed in the points to take eighth despite attack from both Williams. Pastor Maldonado rubbed wheels in the first corner with team mate Bruno Senna on the 52nd lap as he squeezed through on the inside for ninth, and they were the final points’ scorers.

It was a poor day for Sauber, as a disappointed Sergio Perez didn’t have the car beneath him to deliver better than 11th place to the thousands of Mexicans who made the trek to Texas, while Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, who ran strongly in fifth place at one stage while running out of sequence in the pit stops, was 12th. Nico Rosberg brought his Mercedes home an uncompetitive 13th ahead of Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber, while Force India’s Paul di Resta clung on after an unhappy race to beat Schumacher home.

Vitaly Petrov led the newbies home in his Caterham, as Heikki Kovalainen very narrowly fended off Timo Glock’s Marussia for 18th and Charles Pic brought his MR01 home next. Both HRTs finished, with Pedro de la Rosa leading Narain Karthikeyan throughout.

Besides Webber, the only non-finisher was Vergne after damaging his Toro Rosso’s front suspension again during a fight with the Mercedes.

Vettel now leads Alonso with 273 to 260 points, and 25 is up for grabs in Brazil. And though Red Bull lost the race, Vettel’s second place was sufficient to clinch them the constructors’ championship for a third successive year.

So, what did the Mercedes AMG Petronas team have to say about the U.S. race?

Nico Rosberg

It was a difficult weekend for us and unfortunately we weren’t able to score any points today. However we have learned some important lessons for next year and that’s what counts at the moment. I hope we can be more successful next year here in Austin as I have enjoyed our visit. The track, the people and the city are absolutely fantastic. So I look forward to coming back here in 2013 and we will work hard next weekend to finish the season on a positive note.

Michael Schumacher

I can’t find any words other than ironic ones for the race today – there was a lot of action around me but unfortunately in the wrong direction. To say that the race was a real struggle would be an understatement. I couldn’t get any grip from my first set of tires, and there must have been some kind of damage for them to perform so badly. We had to change our strategy to two stops which then compromised our race even further. All in all, it was much worse than expected today, especially considering that things did not look that bad yesterday and Friday.

Michael Schumacher at the Circuit of the Americas

Ross Brawn

After a good qualifying result, Michael’s first set of tires performed very badly today and we decided to convert his strategy to a two-stop race. Once we got onto another set, the lap times came back up to what we expected but having such a poor first stint made it very difficult for him. Nico started a long way back and conserved his tires well as we knew that we wanted to make a one-stop strategy work. He actually had a pretty good race with respectable lap times, and if we had managed to qualify better, he would have been in a reasonable place. Whilst it is disappointing not to score any points, we have learnt a lot about the car and tires this weekend which will be useful for the future. Despite our result, this has been a great weekend for Formula One in the United States, and it was very pleasing to see so many fans here for the first race in Austin. Our thanks for the organisers for putting on such a good show.

Norbert Haug

Nico’s speed was not too bad but from 17th on the grid, he could not improve further. His one-stop strategy worked as planned which was not the case for Michael who, after a respectable place on the grid, did not have the speed in his car to defend his position after the start of the race. The team brought him in early and switched to a two-stop strategy. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for winning the inaugural Grand Prix here at this great race track, after having won the last United States Grand Prix in 2007. Thank you to the organisers for making this race happen here in Austin. We will come back stronger next year. Congratulations to Red Bull Racing for securing the Constructors’ World Championship today.

The wait is over, Formula One returns is returning to the United States next week with the second to last race of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. The 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix will be held at the first purpose-built circuit in the US, the Circuit of the Americas, on Sunday, November 18.  The Austin, Texas based circuit has a varied layout with a high-speed twisting section in the first sector, elevation changes with an uphill approach to the crest of turn one, and a slower, more technical section at the end of the lap.  It will be one of the more challenging tracks of the season and should prove to be an exciting race.

• Austin is the 10th venue for a F1 race in the USA (after Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Phoenix, Riverside, Sebring and Watkins Glen)

• Simulations suggest the circuit has more corners over 250 kph than Spa and more below 100 kph than Hungary

• A qualifying lap time of around 97 seconds (1:37) and a race lap time around 102 seconds (1:42) are predicted

Michael Schumacher

My wife and I have been big fans of the USA, and also of Texas, for many years so I’m particularly looking forward to the race in Austin. I’m really excited to see what kind of track we will find and to see if the American fans will embrace our sport. From the pictures and layouts of the circuit that I have already seen, everything looks very good. I think Formula One will put on a good show at the Circuit of the Americas, and naturally I will be giving my best to be a part of that.

Nico Rosberg

It will be very exciting to race in the USA again and I’m really looking forward to our visit. The United States Grand Prix should be a great event and a real show for our American fans. I can’t wait to drive on the Circuit of the Americas track for the first time in practice next Friday. I spent some time practising on the simulator at the factory this week so I know what to expect and, as a team, we are as well prepared as we can be from our simulator work. The track looks cool with a great double S section to begin the lap and it looks like there should be some good opportunities for overtaking. We really want to end the season on a positive note so we’ll be aiming to score some points next weekend.

Ross Brawn

We are very pleased to see Formula One returning to the United States for the first time since 2007, and the team are looking forward to visiting Austin and the Circuit of the Americas next week. Visiting a new circuit for the first time is always a significant engineering challenge, and we have been working hard at the factory to prepare for the weekend. The team have done over five race distances on the simulator to assess the layout, gradients and G forces. The track layout looks quite varied with a high-speed twisting section in the first sector, elevation changes with an uphill approach to the crest of turn one, and a slower, more technical section at the end of the lap. Nico was in the sim yesterday to complete our preparations and his feedback, along with that of our other sim drivers, will be used to prepare for the Friday practice sessions next week.

Norbert Haug

It is five years since we last visited the United States and there is a great sense of anticipation in Formula One to be returning to a custom-built, state of the art venue at the Circuit of the Americas. A new circuit offers a new challenge for the teams. The circuit will provide a real test for the cars and drivers: it’s not a bland venue but rather a demanding layout with significant elevation changes. It contains an extremely demanding first sector, with a challenging series of high-speed corners and, throughout the lap, you can feel echoes of other great tracks around the world. Our sport has always enjoyed a very dedicated audience in the USA; their knowledge is impressive and they have always given Formula One a very warm welcome. It is an important step to return to the United States for our sport and its image. The USA is the biggest market for Mercedes-Benz cars in terms of sales and a race in the USA belongs in a world championship. The circuit looks to have exactly the right ingredients for an exciting weekend and we look forward to delivering a great race for the American fans.

Photos Via: Circuit of the Americas