F1 GP Austin USA 2022 calendar: dates, favorites

The Formula 1 World Championship begins its American tour which begins the final stretch of the season. The  United States Grand Prix which takes place on the Austin circuit  will be the second American event of the year, after that of Miami which was held at the beginning of the year. In 2023, Las Vegas will join.

The world championship is already mathematically decided, after  Max Verstappen won at Suzuka  and became double Formula 1 world champion. minors in the world championship.

Fernando Alonso may have to change his engine

Of course, the fight for victory  will be Verstappen versus Verstappen . The Dutchman has the wind in his sails, Austin is a good circuit for Red Bull and it has also always been one of those where the driver counts a little more. The only question is whether Verstappen will have signed off after sealing the World Cup.

It will also be interesting to see how much importance Red Bull attaches to second place Sergio Pérez. The Mexican is only one point ahead of Charles Leclerc, so he will play with being the first of the others in these last races. For all this,  Red Bull is not yet mathematically the  constructors' champion, but it has it easy.

Red Bull would even be worth losing 21 points to Ferrari , i.e. even if the Maranello team got an unlikely double, Red Bull would be the constructors' champion if only their cars were, say, third and sixth. With full probability, they will celebrate it in the United States.

Mercedes continues in no man's land, even if the internal battle will be very intense. Lewis Hamilton has already dropped to just 27 points behind George Russell , meaning he is close to retiring from the race to the bottom. The seven-time champion has always been very good in Austin, so he could put more pressure.

Another who needs to recover is  Fernando Alonso, but it is very likely that in Austin he will end up with another mechanical trip. The Asturian could have to change the engine of his Alpine, so he would leave last. No more inconvenience to cut the thirteen points that Esteban Ocon takes overall.

The same  thirteen points that Alpine takes from McLaren  in the constructors' championship, a very important fight for the fourth position which brings in a good handful of millions. Although Alonso may be even more interested in who is behind, for sixth position, where Alfa Romeo already takes just seven points from Aston Martin.

Austin has been the territory of Hamilton and Mercedes

This year will be  the tenth United States Formula 1 Grand Prix to  be held on the Austin circuit, a track that has only been missing from the calendar in 2020 since its creation in 2012. a contract still until 2026, in spite of the fact that the American events multiply.

The driver who  has won the most times in Austin is Lewis Hamilton , and also by far. The British driver took five victories in Texas, including his first with McLaren. In fact, it's the only one that's repeated in Austin. The other winners have only one victory: Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas.

So by brands, Austin is also the territory of Mercedes, which has five wins, four for Hamilton and one for Bottas. Moreover, Red Bull won the 2013 and 2021 races with Vettel and Verstappen, McLaren has one from Hamilton and  Ferrari only triumphed with Raikkonen , in the Finn's last victory in Formula 1.

For the Spaniards, Austin was not the friendliest circuit. Fernando Alonso reached the podium in the inaugural race in 2012 with a third place, but he is the only local shooter. Carlos Sainz's best result is a sixth place in the 2016 season, when he was still racing with this Toro Rosso.

The classification and the race will take place on Sunday at French time

On the schedule side, the early risers have passed but the night schedules are beginning which will force more than one to stay up late. Especially on Saturday, because the qualifying session will start at 00:00 Spanish time, which is technically Sunday. The race is a little earlier, at 9:00 p.m.

2022 United States GP Schedule

• friday 21

- (FP1) Free practice: 9 p.m.

- (FP2) Free practice: 00:00

• saturday 22

- (FP3) Free practice: 9:00 p.m.
- (Q) Classification: 12:00 a.m.

• sunday 23

- (RAC) Course : 21h00