2012 United States Grand Prix

Championship standings

Vettel leads the championship on 255 points after Abu Dhabi. Alonso is second on 245 — ten points back with two races remaining. Vettel can clinch the title at Austin if he wins and Alonso finishes fifth or lower.

Previous race

Räikkönen won in Abu Dhabi with Alonso second and Vettel third — Räikkönen’s first victory since Australia 2009 and Lotus F1’s first win. The result trimmed Vettel’s lead from 13 points to ten.

Circuit

This is the inaugural Formula One race at the Circuit of the Americas, marking the return of the United States Grand Prix after a five-year absence — the last held at Indianapolis in 2007. The 5.513 km, 20-turn circuit overcame a stop-work order in November 2011 and threats of cancellation. Final tarmac was laid on 21 September and FIA approval granted four days later. A single DRS zone runs along the back straight into Turn 12.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the silver-banded hard compound as the prime and white-banded medium as the option. Paul Hembery acknowledged after practice that soft and super-soft compounds would have better suited the circuit’s characteristics; the conservative selection is expected to favour one-stop strategies.

Practice

FP1: Vettel dominated with grip levels minimal throughout — his times were 1.5 seconds faster than Hamilton and two seconds ahead of Alonso. Ma Qinghua replaced Karthikeyan at HRT, finishing last, ten seconds behind Vettel.

FP2: Vettel again led despite a water leak that sidelined him for half the session, outpacing Webber and Alonso by 0.7 seconds. Kovalainen suffered a puncture after contact with Vergne; Maldonado retired with an engine failure.

FP3: Vettel completed the practice sweep, finishing 0.25 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Pérez and Pic collided, damaging Pic’s floor. Vergne broke his front suspension hitting a kerb.

Weather

Scattered cloud — 24°C air temperature, 32°C track.