Grand Prix 2017 United States Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

And so we enter the final phase of the 2017 season and we are now at the point where the points leading driver can win the title should his rival finish lower than a certain position (in this case, 4th I believe). It just so happens that we arrive at a track where the Mercedes team have always ran well having won the last 3 races held there. Also, of the 5 races held to date, Hamilton has won 4 of them and his title rival Sebastian Vettel the other.

Quite why Ferrari have managed to implode in the second half of the season remains to be seen. Kimi hasn't really been in the races all year and Seb seems to be losing the plot at every opportunity. The increasing speed, reliability and confidence from the Red Bull camp has not helped matters but any hope of this season being a close two way battle between Vettel and Hamilton disappeared a long time ago. Only a monumental disaster could stop Hamilton from winning the title now.

As for the track, its always been a popular one with drivers, teams and fans and to be honest definitely rates as one of the least worst 'Tilkedromes'. Turn one has given us some exciting moments in previous races and Nico Rosberg credits Hamilton's wide elbows in 2015 for giving him the drive to take the 2016 title as he vowed not to let a driver do that to him again. The remainder of the track contains a few nods to various circuits around the world.

The thorn in Mercedes side at the last few races has been Red Bull and they will be waiting to pounce should they get the chance of a run at the Mercedes cars.

You know that F1 is in something of a state when outside of the top 6 the odds of another car winning a race have been quoted by some book makers as 1000/1. There are many squabbles throughout the midfield with those all important points bringing home an extra few million dollars. With the departure of Jolyon Palmer from Renault all eyes will be on Carlos Sainz to see if he can get closer to Hulkenberg. Meanwhile back at Sainz's old team, Daniel Kyvat is set to make his latest comeback to racing.

Can Hamilton win the title here then?
 
Hamilton seems to have gone into this Senna like zone where he just keeps pulling them out of the bag and by a huge margin

Vettel might be alongside him and Ferrari think they have a race pace car but the back straight with Hamilton./ Mercedes will surely nail them

Most impressive were Sainz - good reason to drop Palmer and Alonso - how an earth is the car in the top 10?

Was not impressed with both Stroll for his stupid move on Grosjean which could have been really nasty, Magnussen - this guy was supposed one of the bright talents but he just seems to :censored: off some everyone every race weekend. The block on Perez should not have happened

Mercedes could nail them espically with DRS. but Mercedes dont need to win as if Vettel wins & Lewis 2nd, they still win constructors also effectively drivers because all Hamilton would need was to finsh ahead of vettel

Sainz was outstanding but no surprise we all know that he has a great talent. is just probally tiny bit behind the 2 red bull drivers. you would expect that along with Vandoorne Verstappen & maybe Ocon. in 20s next decade a future world champion. i know alonso isnt popular on here but i like how he can drag a car where it doesnt deserve. like some in other sports they are pain in the arse but are worth it

& yes i didnt get stroll incident because i always feel (albeit on my ps4;)) if im coming through i want the other driver just to stay on the line. ill get past dont 2nd guess me. you wouldnt believe amount of time ive virtually mounted another car. because ive gone 1 way & they moved same way off the racing line. big crash
 
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If Lewis can get through the first corner in the lead the engine will be in full qualie mode for a couple of laps and he will dance away like Vettel used to in the blown diffuser era. Prepare yourselves for some serious grumpiness in Chat later on as I suspect we will have a mide race lull from lap 3 until the end.
 
Ideal Lap (sum best sectors) in the Qual:
Qual – No – Driver – Qual Result – Ideal Lap – Flaw
1 - 44 - L.HAMILTON - 01:33,108 - 01:32,955 - 00,153
2 - 5 - S.VETTEL - 01:33,347 - 01:33,347 - 00,000
5 - 7 - K.RAIKKONEN - 01:33,577 - 01:33,442 - 00,135
3 - 77 - V.BOTTAS - 01:33,568 - 01:33,448 - 00,120
6 - 33 - M.VERSTAPPEN - 01:33,658 - 01:33,463 - 00,195
4 - 3 - D.RICCIARDO - 01:33,577 - 01:33,577 - 00,000
7 - 31 - E.OCON - 01:34,647 - 01:34,621 - 00,026
10 - 11 - S.PEREZ - 01:35,148 - 01:34,666 - 00,482
8 - 55 - C.SAINZ - 01:34,852 - 01:34,742 - 00,110
9 - 14 - F.ALONSO - 01:35,007 - 01:34,819 - 00,188
 
from what i understand it going to dry for the race but going to be green track because this morning in Austin they had a big rain storm

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Max penalty wasn't right. Who is the driver steward?

We want racing, it was a thrilling last lap and to then have a fair move taken away is crap. Even Kimi had no idea why he was made 3rd. He said 'there was some problem with max'

If the drivers don't see anything wrong its crap.
 
Just seen replay and he was clearly off. Still feels wrong though. It was good racing. Big bastard kerbs and this wouldn't even be a discussion.
 
as ive said on chat i dont dispute the reason for a penalty but i was furious earlier them moves by Verstappen are what we love & we need consistency from the stewards. you cant pick & choose when you decide apply the rules If the were so bothered about track limits & gaining an advantage. why didn't do anything about it in qualifying >:( maybe mika salo is a big Justin Timberlake fan who knows
alot of footballing analogies on skyf1. so ill join in all match weve had alot of bad tackles not 1 booking. then same tackle red card

but whats the difference between this & max all 4 wheels off & gaining an advantage
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but whats the difference between this & max all 4 wheels off & gaining an advantage
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Ocon(?) isn't gaining an advantage there. Apparently the FIA looked at the data and decided that where cars were running wide on the corner exits they weren't gaining a time advantage vs staying in the white lines.

We can't have it both ways. If they penalised everyone who ran wide they'd be crucified for killing the race.
 
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