2014 United States Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads the Drivers’ Championship with 291 points, ahead of Rosberg in second and Ricciardo in third. Bottas is fourth with 145 points, Vettel fifth with 143. Mercedes have already clinched the World Constructors’ Championship, secured at the Russian Grand Prix.

Previous race

Hamilton won in Russia for his ninth victory of the season and every lap to lead the race from start to finish. Rosberg recovered from a first-lap pit stop — after locking both fronts and flat-spotting his tyres — to finish second. Bottas took third, his fifth podium of 2014. The result secured the Constructors’ Championship for Mercedes, their first title as a full works constructor.

Between-race developments

Caterham and Marussia have both entered administration and have been granted dispensation by Bernie Ecclestone to miss this race. With 18 cars entered, this is the smallest Formula One field since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix. Press reports suggested Sauber, Lotus and Force India briefly considered a boycott to highlight the sport’s financial crisis; all three teams ultimately confirmed participation.

The FIA tested its Virtual Safety Car system for the first time in Friday practice here, in response to the Bianchi accident in Japan. The VSC aims to restrict all drivers to approximately 35 per cent slower lap times in an accident zone via a dashboard display. Drivers agreed refinement is needed before it is introduced for 2015.

Max Verstappen replaces Vergne at Toro Rosso for FP1 for the second time this season; Felipe Nasr drives Bottas’s Williams.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the yellow-banded soft and the white-banded medium dry compounds — softer than the hard and medium selection used at this circuit in 2012 and 2013.

Practice

Hamilton was fastest in FP1 at 1:39.941 on a damp track that dried during the session, though he ended his run 18 minutes early with a gear-shift problem. Ricciardo managed only 45 minutes of running after his energy recovery system failed.

Strong crosswinds made set-up work difficult in FP2. Hamilton set the day’s fastest time at 1:39.085, three-thousandths of a second quicker than Rosberg. Both Mercedes had reliability concerns — Hamilton had a gearbox problem and ended the session early with a minor hydraulic issue; Rosberg reported a downshift concern he attributed to an unintentional clutch input.

Hamilton was fastest again in FP3 at 1:37.107 in cold but bright conditions. Rosberg had a brake issue until the final minutes. Hamilton spun under braking at turn 12 after a steering wheel settings change; Rosberg ran wide at turns 11 and 12.