Hamilton BBQ's Rosberg in Texas

Stick a fork in him, Nico's done.

If you do the math, you will notice that after his win in the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton only needs to  finish second behind Rosberg in the final two races of the season to win the championship.    So, he could conceivably play the two final matches of the season safe.

He probably will not so a surprise is still possible.

In the Rosberg camp, it means he could be perfect in Brazil and Abu Dhabi and it would still not be good enough, today's pass was a heavy one.    Rosberg showed he has the raw speed but does not have the instinctive race craft of Hamilton.  

"...it kind of sucks for me but that's the way it is.  It took too long for me to find the rhythm.  Once Lewis was by I found it but it was a bit late"

That is a hard admission to make, one that feels like a white flag.   Rosberg has not been the same since the team came down on Lewis' side after Spa.  

As for Hamilton, with 10 wins this season, he really should have had this sewn up long ago. Happy he did have all those DNF's because there is still some reason to watch.    Of the two, there is no question he has had the edge overall.  

25 seconds behind the Mercedes's race, Austin gave us one of the most entertaining races of the year, one that at times resembled a Moto GP race much was the passing back and forth action.  Great show from Vergne, Ricciardo, Alonso. Even Maldonado drove a great race, Quite amazing.  

A great results for COTA, Pirelli and yes, Herman Tilke!

2014 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	1:40:04.785	2	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+4.3 secs	1	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+25.5 secs	5	15
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	56	+26.9 secs	4	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	56	+30.9 secs	3	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	+95.2 secs	6	8
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+95.7 secs	18	6
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+100.68 secs	7	4
9	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	56	+107.87 secs	10	1
10	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	56	+108.86 secs	14	2
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	55	+1 Lap	16
12	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	12
13	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	8
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	15
15	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	55	+1 Lap	17
Ret	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	16	Engine	13
Ret	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1	Accident damage	11
Ret	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	0	Accident	9

Rosberg stuns Hamilton in Austin

Nico showed Lewis some HammerZeitpunkt in Austin.  

While the British driver repeatedly locked up, flat spotting at leas two sets of tires, including the ones he will have to start the race on, Rosberg threw down a a 1:36.067 lap.  almost 4.10th faster than his rival, an eternity in F1.

The Pole shootout for the season now stands 9 to 7 in Rosberg's favor.

Nico's lap was also over 3/10th faster than last year's pole by Sebastian Vettel.  The cars have nominally softer tires this year but they are also heavier and have less downforce on a track that demands high downforce.   Very interesting.

Tomorrow Hamilton, who dominated all the previous practice session, will be hoping turn one and DRS, will be his friends.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.303	1:36.290	1:36.067	20
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:37.196	1:37.287	1:36.443	16
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.249	1:37.499	1:36.906	19
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:37.877	1:37.347	1:37.205	20
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.814	1:37.873	1:37.244	17
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.349	1:38.010	1:37.610	16
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.574	1:38.024	1:37.655	17
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.557	1:38.047	1:37.706	16
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:38.669	1:38.263	1:37.804	22
10	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.855	1:38.378	1:38.810	15
11	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:38.608	1:38.467	16
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:39.200	1:38.554	16
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.931	1:38.598	16
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:38.936	1:38.699	17
15	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:39.250	10
16	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:39.555	10
17	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:39.621	3
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:39.679	8

Site of future USGP track in Texas, revealed...

I'm serious, somewhere past that plastic lawn chair...

Austin's The Statesman reports:

Organizers of the proposed Austin Formula One auto race plan to build the track on about 900 acres near Elroy in southeastern Travis County, according to one of the major land owners involved....

...The location of the track has been a topic of intense speculation since May, when Formula One Group CEO Bernie Ecclestone announced plans for a race in Austin.

Wandering Creek has about 650 acres, and organizers have recently secured adjacent acreage, including land with more frontage on FM 812 and small parcels with additional access to Elroy Road, according to a source close to the event who could not be identified because he was not authorized to speak ahead of today's press conference.

Organizers kept the site secret, even from local officials, until the land was secured and private investors were lined up.

Cathy Olive, president of the Elroy Preservation Association, a neighborhood group, said she and other board members were scheduled to meet Monday night with a representative of the race organizers, presumably to provide a heads-up before this morning's conference.

She and some other local resident s opposed the original Wandering Creek plans, which called for 1,800 homes on small lots. She said she and "every single solitary person I have talked to" don't want the track in their area, but all feel it would be preferable to dense residential development.

"We all feel like it would be the lesser of two evils," Olive said. "Are we excited about it? No. But it's better than 2,000 teeny-tiny tract houses."...

...Hellmund faces a tight schedule to get the track built. Wandering Creek's owners already have submitted applications to extend water and wastewater treatment services to the land.

Austin and Travis County have set up a joint task force to handle permit requests, once the site is disclosed.

Promoters hope to have permits in place from the city and county to start grading work on the site in December and remain confident they can have a track open in time....

Read the Full article here

Additionally on of the major financial backers of the projects was named, it's Billy Joe "Red" McCombs (what a perfect name for a Texan promoter) of car dealership and Clear- Channel Entertainment wealth and a frustrated passion for grand entertainment venues.

Best of luck to all involved!

Track web site Formula1unitedstaes.com

end of post

Michael Schumacher, glances up upon hearing the sound of a lone, furiously- booing fan, who happens to be standing next to the photographer. US Grand Prix, 28 September 2003 by badbadM.