After decades of trying and failing to make it big across the Atlantic, Formula 1 has finally managed to achieve an all-important foothold in the United States. It might not have an American driver to get behind any longer, but F1’s presence Stateside is growing; last year’s calendar featured three races in the US for the first time since 1982. The trio of Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas appears to be set in stone for the next few years.

Not all have been successful. Races at permanent venues in the 1960s and 1970s soon made way for a plethora of cookie-cutter street circuits, the view dominated by walls and little else in the way of identifiable landmarks. It wasn’t until 2012 that F1 found a ‘permanent’ home in the US once the Circuit of the Americas was complete, and in recent years the destination-city locales have been added back into the mix thanks to the influence of owners Liberty Media. There’s been a few golden geese in that time that F1 has failed to capture, but clinching races in Miami and Las Vegas is a colossal boon for the championship.

But which of the 12 circuits to have hosted an F1 grand prix in the States is best? Each one has been graded out of 10 on its layout, the quality of its racing, its longevity in F1, and its legacy – including driver reaction, how memorable the grand(s) prix were, and its impact on motorsport.

Are you ready? Then we’ll begin.

12 – Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

GPs: 2
Years: 1981-82
In one sentence: F1 in a literal car park

Michele Alboreto, Tyrrell 011-Ford, leads Mauro Baldi, Arrows A4-Ford

Photo by: Motorsport Images

The signage for Caesars Palace is visible from the part of The Strip incorporated into the modern-day Las Vegas circuit, although the car park in which Sin City’s first F1 effort took place is no longer there. Instead, a shopping mall sits atop the Caesars Palace Grand Prix’s former locale, so that the two-year period of indiscretions (commonly referred to as ‘races’) that took place there remain buried for all time.

Maybe that’s too harsh, but it’s hard to think of the Caesars Palace races as little more than a rushed effort to have a race in Las Vegas – seemingly for the sake of it. Initial plans to involve the Strip did not work out, and thus Caesars Palace CEO Bill Weinberger and F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone set upon the plan to create a cramped circuit in the hotel car park. The ‘E’ layout? Weinberger recalled years later that he traced around his hand upon a placemat and suggested it as a starting point. Ecclestone told him there might only be the space for three fingers’ worth of track.

There were no defining features of the track: flat, barren, and carparky. Asphalt was freshly laid for the occasion, but the circuit had little going for it other than the honour of holding two title deciders in 1981 and 1982: Alan Jones winning the ’81 race denied team-mate Carlos Reutemann the chance to become world champion, while Keke Rosberg’s fifth place in 1982 was enough to secure the title. But the drivers hated the course, suffered with heat exhaustion, and it made the hotel little more than a heavy financial loss. The race was supposed to remain on the calendar for 1983, but was sensibly discarded.

11 – Fair Park, Dallas, Texas

GP: 1
Year: 1984
In one sentence: Cars, drivers, and track crumbling in 38-degree heat

Keke Rosberg, Williams FW09 Honda

Photo by: Motorsport Images

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History perhaps isn’t harsh enough on the sole Dallas Grand Prix, which instead is looked at as a zany, light-hearted, attritional jaunt on a slightly hot day. In reality, Dallas was colossally underprepared for an F1 race, and bizarrely decided on July – deeming extreme heat preferable to rain – to host it. Dallas’ promoters wanted to use F1 to showcase the city as “world-class”, but the TV pictures showed little beyond the concrete.

The problems were twofold: the heat, and a temporary track surface that crumbled like a day-old pastry. The circuit had already started to break up during Friday practice; letting a field of Can-Am cars race around it on the Saturday afternoon prompted a series of repairs to go on overnight. The drivers even considered a boycott given the state of the track, but there was a prevailing feeling among the field of “we’re here, so we might as well race”.

Both the drivers and the cars struggled in the 38-degree heat. That Keke Rosberg dragged his Williams FW09 to victory rather underlined the attritional nature of the race; the Finn had hooked a water bottle up to the inside of his helmet to stay cool in the conditions. The other drivers struggled; Nigel Mansell fainted trying to push his Lotus across the line after a gearbox failure. Multiple drivers spun off thanks to the breaking track and the little run-off available; furthermore, the local population around Fair Park found the noise contemptible. The Dallas race never happened again, as the organisers went bankrupt in early 1985.

10 – Phoenix, Arizona

GPs: 3
Years: 1989-91
In one sentence: Dull 90-degree fest that only Jean Alesi could make interesting

Jean Alesi, Tyrrell 018 Ford leads Ayrton Senna, Mclaren MP4/5B Honda

Photo by: Motorsport Images

There were two Phoenix layouts used in the race’s three-year stint in F1: the 90-degree-heavy version used in 1989 and 1990, and the 1991 variant that implemented a hairpin and a bit more corner variation. Neither layout was particularly interesting, although the older version gets a little bit more of a free pass simply because the race was put together so late; Phoenix only agreed a deal in January 1989 to inherit Detroit’s June slot that year.

The 1990 race, now held in March, was the highlight of Phoenix’s time on the calendar. Jean Alesi’s monoshock Tyrrell 018 worked wonders on a street circuit, and gave the young French-Sicilian a platform to battle fiercely against Ayrton Senna over victory. Alesi didn’t quite manage to chisel a maiden win from Senna’s grasp, but at least firmly put himself on the F1 map. Without Alesi’s heroics, there’s little to say about the course. The heat in 1989 and the roughness of the circuit gave the venue a reputation as a bit of a car breaker, and accommodating more than 15,000 spectators was increasingly tricky.

Bernie Ecclestone paid the deal off early at the end of 1991, cancelling a projected 1992 race and instead choosing to take F1 back to South Africa once apartheid was over.

9 – Miami, Florida

GPs: 3
Years: 2022-current
In one sentence: Swaggering Miami Vice-inspired showmanship, distinctly average circuit

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Securing a race in Miami was a colossal statement of intent from F1’s ownership, although it admittedly faced prolonged legal opposition from the residents in the Miami Gardens area of the city, which was eventually quashed. F1 had been looking to Miami as a potential venue for years, and a possible race along Biscayne Bay (where Formula E had raced in 2015) and PortMiami came to nothing. Instead, plans were shifted to the Hard Rock Stadium – which ultimately delivered on a race in 2022.

The race itself has always felt very secondary in Miami. Instead, it’s more of an event; a teal and pink-tinged affair underpinned by art deco motifs, American sporting stars in attendance, and the eye-watering luxury packages that only the very wealthy can afford. The painted water in a mock marina added the requisite level of cheese; watching Sky F1’s Craig Slater splash about on dry land live on TV only served to demonstrate the ridiculousness.

And we’ve barely discussed the Miami circuit itself: it isn’t bad, per se, but it just has a number of key irritations. Run-off is excessive, it’s a bit too reliant on DRS zones to make passing happen, and the Turn 14-15 chicane appears to be there for the sake of being annoying. The first sector is great and rewards rhythm and momentum, but the rest is all distinctly milquetoast in feel.

8 – Las Vegas, Nevada

GP: 1
Years: 2023-current
In one sentence: Overindulgent pricing structure but solid racing thus far

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Las Vegas above Miami? We have a very small sample set for both events: just three races for Miami, and just the one for Vegas – but of them, Las Vegas’ return to the F1 calendar was a much more exciting on-track affair than any of Miami’s offerings, and that’s largely down to the unique climatic conditions of having a race so late at night. It gets cold in the desert, and the smoothness of the asphalt made it very difficult to get the tyres heated up. Hence the topsy-turvy qualifying order, where both McLarens fell in Q1 and both Williams made it to Q3.

Getting a race on the Strip has been a goal of F1’s for decades; the layout that the championship has settled on for Las Vegas may look like an upside-down pig, but it’s been an effective one so far. Like Miami, the circuit itself isn’t the important bit; holding an event that rivals Monaco for glitz and glamour (and sleaze?) is the main attraction. Tickets outside of general admission command princely sums north of $1000. A ticket from the Red Bull Energy Station for the weekend? $12,000. Back-of-the-sofa money to those who can afford it, but to us common schmoes it seems like a way to capitalise on profligacy.

Excess aside, Las Vegas does appear to be a worthwhile addition to the calendar. The race in 2023 was good, albeit at a silly time, and the notion of exclusivity commands high prices outwith the general admission tickets. And if people are willing to pay those prices, good luck to them.

7 – Detroit, Michigan

GPs – 7
Years – 1982-88
In one sentence: “We have Monaco at home”

Alain Prost, McLaren MP4/2C

Photo by: Sutton Images

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On balance, perhaps Detroit’s riverfront street circuit was not the most convincing F1 venue, but it nonetheless delivered a handful of good races across its seven-year spell. With the aim to improve the image of the city and make it more internationally recognised, Detroit became the third American host of a grand prix in 1982. With a chicane and a tunnel overlooking the water, it appeared to be an attempt to mimic Monaco – and the tight Turn 5 hairpin was so slow that drivers struggled to keep their cars from stalling. Sensibly, that hairpin was discarded for future iterations of the race.

Many of the early criticisms about the track – poor organisation, the fact it had never hosted a race before F1 got there, the painfully slow hairpin, and the bumpiness of the circuit – had effectively faded away by its follow-up event in 1983. The races were often spiced up by the nature of the course removing some of the advantage that the turbo runners had; the 90-degree corners helped keep the naturally aspirated cars in the fight as they were not beset by the effects of turbo lag.

But a general lack of investment in the roadways around the course started to instigate track break-up, particularly at Turn 2 in the 1985 race. Alain Prost was one of the key critics of the Detroit circuit, labelling it “slow, boring, and no test of driving”, and the drivers had begun to hate it more and more as things deteriorated. It eventually fell off the calendar after 1988 as Detroit did not wish to stump up for new pitlane facilities, and a planned move to Belle Isle did not keep Detroit on the F1 calendar.

6 – Riverside, California

GP: 1
Year: 1960
In one sentence: Rapid but deceptively simple venue now lost to time

Stirling Moss, Lotus 18 Climax

Photo by: Motorsport Images

An admission: this writer is a big fan of Riverside, even though it was long destroyed before he was even born. And yet, there’s something majestic in its apparent simplicity; images and video of cars from 1960 sliding through the uphill Esses with increasing slip is a great spectacle. It would play quite well today, actually; Riverside walked where COTA could run with its own undulating series of left-right kinks.

Riverside only appeared on the F1 calendar once, in 1960. Stirling Moss won that race, although had not preserved his pole position and had been overtaken on the opening lap by Jack Brabham. The Australian then started to ease off when his overfull fuel tanks started to leak onto his exhaust, allowing Moss to reclaim the lead. Unfortunately, the race was not a success; the United States Grand Prix moved to Watkins Glen for the following season.

The nature of Riverside, with its long back straight and several fast corners into slow hairpins, meant that it was a frequent proponent of heavy incidents – sometimes fatal. Long after F1 left, the final corner was reprofiled with a dog-leg to open up the radius – although this did little to stop collisions as a result of reliability issues. The circuit was closed in mid-1989, with a shopping mall and housing built on top of it.

5 – Sebring, Florida

GP: 1
Year: 1959
In one sentence: Sprawling airfield course that became revered sportscar venue

Maurice Trintignant, Cooper T51 Climax

Photo by: Motorsport Images

The current Sebring layout, which still retains the runway back straight of the original version, is quite a long lap at 3.741 miles. It pales in comparison to the layout used in F1 in 1959, however; the 5.192-mile course around the former Hendricks Army Airfield contributed to Stirling Moss’s three-minute pole time in its one grand prix. Here, Bruce McLaren took his first grand prix win, as Moss’s gearbox packed up after five laps.

There’s a series of funny footnotes in Sebring’s single appearance on the F1 calendar: Harry Schell took third on the grid after apparently finding a shortcut on his final qualifying lap, there was the only appearance of Tec-Mec on the entry list, and Rodger Ward somehow got permission to enter a Kurtis Kraft midget car sporting a 1.7-litre Offenhauser engine – tiny compared to the 2.5-litre engines of the day. It was perhaps unsurprising that Ward was 43.8 seconds slower than Moss in qualifying.

Sebring’s appearance here isn’t necessarily due to the spectacle of its F1 race, but rather as it became an iconic venue in the world of sportscars. The dual-surface nature of the circuit has offered a unique challenge for decades, and the 12 Hours of Sebring is one of the most important events in the US racing calendar.

4 – Indianapolis, Indiana

GPs: 8
Years: 2000-07
In one sentence: Road course on hallowed IndyCar ground, saddled with memories of tyre woe

The start of the race with only six cars

Photo by: Steve Swope / Motorsport Images

Little preamble is needed for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, given its importance in the global motorsport sphere. But the idea of F1 going racing at a circuit known for Indy car racing (the clue rather being in the name) always seemed incongruous at best. In the new millennium, F1 made its ‘grand’ return to the United States, as a road course was put together at Indianapolis with a technical infield section. The oval’s first corner was used as the final turn of the road course – which later became a problematic inclusion.

The first reviews in 2000 from the drivers were that the circuit was good fun, although the plethora of hairpins perhaps slowed things down a bit too much. But the banked corners started to prove problematic as F1’s tyre war between Michelin and Bridgestone hotted up; Ralf Schumacher suffered a heavy incident as his Michelin tyre gave up in 2004, suffering injuries to his back, and then endured a similar fate in 2005 that resulted in the subsequent boycott from the Michelin teams.

And that, sadly, is what F1’s time at Indianapolis is most remembered for. It finally looked like F1 was finding a home in the US, but the 2005 race derailed all of the good will from local fans and the race was quietly dropped before 2008. The road course looks a little different these days with most of the hairpins gone, but it usually delivers exciting IndyCar races each year.

3 – Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas

GPs: 11
Years: 2012-current
In one sentence: Collection of revered corners in modern Tilke-influenced design

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C43

Photo by: Alfa Romeo

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F1 is gearing up to host its 12th race at the Austin course, and appears to have finally found its feet within the US. The Circuit of the Americas is something of a collage of some of F1’s most-loved corners – Maggotts/Becketts, Istanbul’s Turn 8, Hockenheim’s Sachs Kurve (for some reason) all stitched together into a Tilkean ribbon of tight corners designed to produce overtaking.

It’s perhaps a bit overengineered with that in mind; speaking cynically, it feels like the circuit’s designers were throwing every idea at the wall to see what would stick. Yet, it seems to be well-received, so COTA certainly has that going for it. The excess of run-off presents the usual difficulties of the modern-day circuits, as does the relative lack of background furniture as COTA was built in a vast expanse of nothing – under which is soft soil which appears to be accelerating the decline of the track surface.

But it’s hard to ignore the race’s impact. Races at COTA are generally good, although perhaps suffer from an over-reliance on DRS along the back straight, but the corners aft of that produce some opportunity for experimentation with different lines – yielding some switchback moves. It’s not the best circuit F1 has visited in the US – but it’s one of the most important.

2 – Long Beach, California

GPs: 8
Years: 1976-83
In one sentence: Much-loved sea-side circuit with a penchant for weird results

Andrea de Cesaris, Alfa Romeo 182 leads Niki Lauda, McLaren MP4/1B-Ford Cosworth, Rene Arnoux, Renault RE30B, Alain Prost, Renault RE30B, Bruno Giacomelli, Alfa Romeo 182, Gilles Villeneuve, Ferrari 126C2, Nelson Piquet, Brabham BT49D-Ford Cosworth and Keke Rosberg, Williams FW07C-Ford Cosworth, at the start

Photo by: Motorsport Images

There’s just something about Long Beach that everybody seems to love. Never mind that it permanently looks somewhat run-down, or the worrying about the fountain flower display whenever IndyCar visits; it just seems to produce genuinely good racing. This was the same in F1, as nobody won at the iconic Shoreline Drive course more than once – such was its inclination to shuffle the pack. Although the layout changed multiple times across F1’s time at Long Beach, with several changes to the entry and exit onto Shoreline Drive, the spine has remained the same throughout.

Remember when Andrea de Cesaris threw his car off the road from second in 1982, when he apparently lost concentration? Or John Watson winning from 22nd on the grid in 1983? Ricciardo Patrese progressing from pre-qualifying to score Arrows’ first point in 1978? Long Beach had plenty of these little moments of wonder, and has continued to be a mainstay of the US racing scene beyond F1’s departure at the end of ’83. A turbocharged car never won the “United States Grand Prix West”.

The Long Beach mantle moved to CART in 1984, as the F1 race was barely profitable. It continues to host IndyCar races to this day, having become one of the flagship races on the calendar.

1 – Watkins Glen, New York

GPs: 20
Years: 1961-80
In one sentence: Classic course that F1 sadly outgrew

Ronnie Peterson, March 711 Ford

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Before COTA, there was Watkins Glen. Initially a small circuit when F1 first raced there in 1961, it grew in size with the addition of The Boot in 1971 and the reprofiling of the opening corner, largely forming the layout that remains in place to this day. ‘The Glen’ has a fantastic flow to it; the uphill ascent from Turn 1 to Turn 4 rewards bravery on the throttle, and the run to Turn 5 – with or without chicane – yields plenty of passing opportunities.

There’s a dark side to it, however. F1 played host to the grisly deaths of Francois Cevert and Helmut Koinigg, and even to this day it’s too reliant on Armco barriers to define the lines despite the appearance of better solutions in recent years. Even more tragic was that Cevert had won so brilliantly two years prior, in 1971. It was a circuit that, in the early days, needed to be tamed; that Jim Clark and Graham Hill had such a knack for it rather underlined the skill required from the drivers.

After F1 departed, Watkins Glen fell into disrepair. Thankfully, renovations in 1984 kept the circuit in use and it remains one of the US’s most revered venues in motorsport. NASCAR and IndyCar have both since visited, the former having stuck around with the Boot-less short course.

British motorsport powerhouse the RML Group is open to operating a Le Mans Hypercar project if an opportunity arises to join the World Endurance Championship grid.

The Wellingborough-based company is best known for carrying Vauxhall’s and Nissan’s works teams to British Touring Car Championship glory during the halcyon 1990s Super Touring era and claiming World Touring Car Championship crowns for Chevrolet in the 21st century.

But RML, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary, has its origins in sports-prototype endurance racing.

The first RML project was the Ecurie Ecosse Group C2 squad that claimed teams’ title glory in the world sportscar championship in 1986, before the company ran the factory Aston Martin operation in the main Group C class in 1989 and then partnered Nissan North America’s 1990 Le Mans 24 Hours assault.

While RML has not had a full race team since it bowed out of the WTCC when Yvan Muller won the 2013 title with the Chevrolet Cruze, its chief executive Michael Mallock Jr said when asked by Motorsport.com that that the will is “100%” there to return in that form.

“Hypercar is a fantastic concept. The growth of WEC and IMSA has been incredible, and it’s fantastic to see so many manufacturers,” he said.

“It’s a bit frustrating that we’re not there actually in a lot of ways, but we would love to be there as a team.”

As well as a string of high-performance road-car and record-breaking projects, RML supplies spec parts to the BTCC, and its advanced work on battery technology means that it is now working with undisclosed clients not only in Le Mans Hypercar, but also in Formula 1.

RML ran the Nissan Primeras that claimed 1999 BTCC title with Laurent Aiello

Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths / Motorsport Images

The group has also revealed a special edition Hypercar-inspired P39 project, based on the Porsche 992.1 Turbo S and limited to just 10 examples.

“We are in Hypercar in unknown ways as well, with our battery technology working with an OEM on their next three generations up,” added Mallock Jr.

“The other area where we’re using our battery know-how capability is in the big single-seater championship [F1]…”

RML is already active in lower echelons of endurance racing through its production of the Lotus Emira GT4 car, which follows its work on the Jaguar F-type, and the company is also keen to explore GT3 avenues.

“Endurance racing is very much the core of Mallock and RML,” said Mallock Jr. “If there was an opportunity with a well-funded GT team and OEM, we would absolutely be there.

“We’ve got a lot of long-term staff – this year we’ve had three 20th anniversaries, which is quite impressive.

“Even though the business has evolved hugely, there’s still a lot of the core motorsport love and focus throughout the business.

“We wouldn’t struggle to get support from within our business if the right motorsport opportunity came up.”

A special feature on RML’s 40 years in motorsport will feature in this week’s edition of the Autosport Engineering supplement, out on 17 October. Click here to find out more about Autosport magazine.

Kelvin van der Linde has insisted he wants to join a manufacturer that has a Hypercar and GT3 programme so he can continue in the DTM when his Abt contract is up, with a Lamborghini LMDh test a possibility.

The DTM championship contender’s future has been the subject of much speculation in 2024, with his two-year contract with Abt Sportsline expiring after this weekend’s final round at Hockenheim, where he will be battling Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti for his maiden title.

Van der Linde has spent much of his professional career racing for Audi, but split with the German marque in 2023 following its decision to terminate its under-development Hypercar programme.

Since then he has become ‘brand neutral’, remaining with Abt Audi in the DTM while adding a new programme in the World Endurance Championship’s LMGT3 class with ASP Lexus.

However, he continues to harbour aspirations of racing in top-level prototype machinery, a goal he first set out when Audi announced plans to return to the WEC with an LMDh car. This would most certainly require him to land a factory deal with a manufacturer.

When asked about his future, van der Linde told Motorsport.com’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com: “Nothing has been signed, and there are currently a few offers.

“My wish was always to go to a manufacturer that has a Hypercar and a GT3 program because I want to continue to be active in the DTM.

“You can think about which manufacturers there are that have both programs: BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini, and I don’t think any others.”

Abt is ending a long-term association with Audi to join forces with Lamborghini in 2025, which could open up new opportunities for van der Linde.

#63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63: Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli, Romain Grosjean

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Motorsport.com has learned that the 28-year-old may get an opportunity to sample the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh in next month’s Bahrain WEC rookie test, which would mark his first prototype appearance since a pair of outings in an LMP2 car in the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series.

It’s unlikely this will result in him joining the team in WEC next year, but it would at least mean that a Hypercar programme would be on the table for the future.

This would also allow him to remain in the DTM with Abt, the team he has been racing with since the series switched to GT3 rules in 2021.

Other than Lamborghini, it is understood that van der Linde has two more options. One of those is BMW, whose factory roster already includes his younger brother Sheldon.

Kelvin van der Linde shares a manager with three-time DTM champion Rene Rast, who was also a long-time factory Audi driver prior to his move to BMW in 2023.

When asked about the BMW rumor, Rast grinned and said: “Kelvin at BMW? No idea. We’ll have to talk to [our manager] Dennis [Rostek] about what he’s up to.”

However, Motorsport.com understands that the likelihood of van der Linde moving to BMW is low at the moment.

Similarly, while Cadillac will have an expanded two-car programme with Jota next year, the prospect of sister marque Corvette joining the DTM is implausible.

Toyota could also have been an option as van der Linde races for Lexus in the LMGT3 division, but the Japanese marque has no vacant spots on its Hypercar line-up for 2025.

That leaves Lamborghini as his best bet for a factory programme in 2025.

Max Verstappen leads the drivers championship by 52 ponts as F1 returns from a month-long break, while McLaren has extended its advantage over Red Bull to 59 points in the manufacturers’ standings.

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2024 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix session timings in different timezones

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in the UK/Portugal 

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 18:30 – 19:30 BST
• Sprint qualifying: 22:30 – 23:14 BST

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint: 19:00 BST
• Qualifying: 23:00 – 00:00 BST

Sunday 20th October 2024

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in Europe

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 19:30 – 20:30 CEST
• Sprint qualifying: 23:30 – 00:14 CEST

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint: 20:00 – 21:00 CEST

Sunday 20th October 2024

• Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00 CEST
• Race: 21:00 CEST

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in the US (Eastern Time) 

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 13:30 – 14:30 ET 
• Sprint qualifying: 17:30 – 18:14 ET 

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint: 14:00 ET 
• Qualifying: 18:00 – 19:00 ET 

Sunday 20th October 2024

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in the US (Central Time)

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 12:30 – 13:30 CT
• Sprint qualifying: 16:30 – 17:14 CT

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint: 13:00 CT 
• Qualifying: 17:00 – 18:00 CT

Sunday 20th October 2024

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in the US (Pacific Time)

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 10:30 – 11:30 PT
• Sprint qualifying: 14:30 – 15:14 PT

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint: 11:00 PT
• Qualifying: 15:00 – 16:00 PT 

Sunday 20th October 2024

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in Australia

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 04:30 – 05:30 AEDT
• Sprint qualifying: 08:30 – 09:14 AEDT

Sunday 20th October 2024

• Sprint: 05:00 AEDT
• Qualifying: 09:00 – 10:00 AEDT

Monday 21st October 2024

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in Japan

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 02:30 – 03:30 JST
• Sprint qualifying: 06:30 – 07:14 JST

Sunday 20th October 2024

• Sprint: 03:00 JST 
• Qualifying: 07:00 – 08:00 JST

Monday 21st October 2024

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in Africa

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 19:30 – 20:30 SAT / 20:30 – 21:30 EAT
• Sprint qualifying: 23:30 – 00:14 SAT 

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint qualifying: 00:30 – 01:14 EAT 
• Sprint: 20:00 SAT / 21:00 EAT

Sunday 20th October 2024

• Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00 SAT / 01:00 – 02:00 EAT
• Race: 21:00 SAT / 22:00 EAT

2024 Formula 1 United States GP session timings in India

Friday 18th October 2024

• Free Practice 1: 23:00 – 00:00 IST

Saturday 19th October 2024

• Sprint qualifying: 03:00 – 03:44 IST 
• Sprint: 23:30 IST

Sunday 20th October 2024

• Qualifying: 03:30 – 04:30 IST

Monday 21st October 2024

Can’t find your country or region in the list? Check the Formula 1 schedule page for the broadcast times in your local timezone.

Formula E’s Attack Charge concept will finally be trialled in a mock race during pre-season testing next month, with the FIA claiming the “technology is working”.

One of the longest-running sagas of Formula E’s Gen3 era has surrounded fast-charging pitstops, which could appear later this season, having already been tested extensively during the off-season by teams.

The concept, where drivers would be required to pit during a race for approximately 30 seconds and receive a charge of power equal to 10% of the battery, was initially slated for the start of the Gen3 era in 2023.

This was pushed back by a year due to the introduction of the new machines, which put a strain on available parts and the general Formula E infrastructure, with testing of the technology taking place at various points last season in official practice sessions.

The fast-charging, which could eventually have a huge impact for electric vehicle consumers if successful, was never implemented in a race due to reliability concerns that have since been addressed ahead of the Gen3 Evo era.

“It came with big challenges; it’s not only pushing boundaries on the charger side but also on the battery side,” FIA Head of Championship for Formula E, Pablo Martino, told Motorsport.com.

“Through all the summer period this year, the manufacturers have had access to this technology, so they have been testing with that technology in place.

“They have performed quite a relevant amount of charging already. The technology is there, the technology is working.

“There are just a few operational corrections that need to be addressed, but nothing related to the technicality.

“On how the system is operated, that part is something that is currently in the last phase of sign-off, let’s say, in terms of technology.”

Pablo Martino, FIA

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Teams have been able to use the charge boosters during testing to work on the procedure from an operational perspective, with further running now set to take place at pre-season testing in Valencia.

The four-day test, which gets under way on 4 November, will include a mock race with the fast-charging pitstops set to feature, giving teams and the FIA the chance to see the technology used in a dynamic race situation.

Teams simulated pitstops during the same mock race in pre-season last year, but the technology was not used due to unreliability and safety concerns at the time.

“From an operational point of view, we’re pretty close,” adds McLaren chief engineer Albert Lau.

“But we just haven’t had, I guess, the volume of boost charges that would for me sign it off to the point where we’re happy that it’s all OK.

“You’re talking about a boost charge per race, per car, and you add that up; you need hundreds of boost charges signed off before you’re going to go into a season.

“You don’t go to Le Mans and do a 24-hour test. You’ve done a 36-hour test beforehand and it’s the same thing for this.”

However, even if the technology proves reliable and teams are up to speed with it operationally, there’s no guarantee that it will be implemented for the upcoming season.

Martino admits that further simulation and research will need to take place to ensure that adding the procedure into a race won’t diminish the spectacle or create any additional issues.

“There is also an exercise that needs to be understood, which is how this attack charge affects the race,” he said.

“This is something that needs to be captured, so even if the technology is there, we need to understand what’s going to happen in races. That will also be taken into account for a final decision.”

Former MotoGP star Jorge Lorenzo believes Marc Marquez now displays more respect towards rivals while battling with them on track, having initially found his antics to be “very aggressive”.

Lorenzo was one of Marquez’s main rivals during his golden period in the 2010s, with the pair even becoming team-mates at Honda in the former’s final season in 2019.

Their careers have taken different turns since then, with Lorenzo going on to become a commentator for Spanish broadcaster DAZN and Marquez joining the Gresini Ducati team in 2024 after being saddled with injuries and an uncompetitive bike in his final years at Honda.

Lorenzo admitted that he wasn’t a fan of Marquez’s style of racing when the latter graduated to the premier class in 2013 as the reigning Moto2 champion, but feels his countryman has changed the way he rides against other riders over the years.

“In 2013, I didn’t accept his [Marc’s] way of racing, which was very aggressive,” the three-time champion said at Festival dello Sport in Italy. “Now he has a bit more ‘respect’ towards his rivals. It must be said that the rules are stricter than ten years ago.”

Marc Marquez, Repsol Hond and Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Marquez won six titles in his first seven years in MotoGP, with Lorenzo – then at Yamaha – the only rider to break his run when he triumphed in the controversial 2015 season.

Things started going downhill for Marquez after Lorenzo retired from MotoGP, with a horrific crash at the 2020 season opener in Jerez leaving him with career-altering injuries.

It took multiple surgeries and prolonged layoff periods to put the accident behind, but by the time he was close to full fitness the Honda RC213V had slumped to become the slowest bike on the grid.

Lorenzo believes Marquez would have been able to win several additional titles had his arm not been broken at Jerez four years ago.

“He is a beast on a sporting level,” he said of the 31-year-old. “Since 2020, he has had very bad luck in terms of his physical condition. Without those problems, he would have won at least two or three more world championships.”

Marquez’s struggles at Honda prompted him to leave the Japanese manufacturer with a year left on his contract and join Gresini at the start of the 2024 season.

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

He will move up to the factory Ducati team next year, partnering Francesco Bagnaia, and will be in a position to challenge for the championship for the first time since 2019.

Lorenzo himself spent two seasons with Ducati in 2017-18 as part of a multi-million deal with the aim of leading the Borgo Panigale marque to its first title since 2007.

Although the Spaniard did hit his stride in his second season after a slow adaptation, the partnership ultimately ended with just three wins to boot.

He ended up moving to Honda for what turned out to be his final year in the premier class, while Ducati slowly turned the Desmosedici into a dominant bike.

Hailing Ducati’s general manager Gigi Dall’Igna, Lorenzo said he would have been able to achieve the target set out by Ducati had he stayed with the team for a few more seasons.

“We met in 2004, in my last year in 125cc. Fate brought us together at Ducati,” he said of Dall’Igna. “I was very sorry not to have won a title with the Italian brand. I am convinced that, if I had stayed two more years, we would have won it.

“Now it is the best bike. It has no weak points.”