F1 returns from four-week break with United States Grand Prix in Austin’s Circuit of the Americas | The GIST

The GIST: With four weeks passed since McLaren’s Lando Norris won the Singapore Grand Prix and only six races left in the season, F1 lands in the Lone Star State for the United States Grand Prix from Austin’s Circuit of the Americas (COTA) this weekend. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the speedy action.

The standings: Unlike last season’s runaway by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, this year is a completely different story. Verstappen won six of the first 10 races in 2024 and is first in the Driver Standings, but the Dutchman hasn’t found the top of the podium since.

• The aforementioned Norris won the first three races of his career this season, propelling the British driver to second place in the Driver Standings, only 52 points behind and well within striking distance of Mad Max.

The track: Switching, ahem, gears to the course, COTA’s 5.5km track debuted in 2012 — then the first US Grand Prix since 2007 — and has been a mainstay on the F1 calendar ever since.

• But before Sunday’s 3 p.m. ET, 56-lap race gets underway, the drivers will embark on a shorter, more dynamic Sprint race tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET, with points awarded to the top eight finishers.

Zooming out: Austin’s one of a handful of races revved up for North American fans. Thanks to the success of the Drive to Survive Netflix series, F1’s American fan base grew exponentially, prompting the addition of the Miami Grand Prix in 2022 and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023. The second is slated for later this month, where drivers will race the famous Las Vegas Strip. Start those engines.