It’s been a rather eventful three weeks in the lead up to Round 17 of the Formula 1 World Championship. We’ve seen two teams exit the sport with very little chance of either team returning. To add insult to injury there are threats that there are more teams that may fold and exit the sport. It has truly been a sad few weeks.

As sad as these past events are, the show must go on. The F1 circus returns to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas for the United States Grand Prix. This is only the third time the track has hosted the US GP and every year it gets bigger and better.

With Mercedes winning the Constructors Championship at the Russian Grand Prix, and with Red Bull in a comfortable second, the battle between Williams and Ferrari for third is all to play for. There is just 28 points between the two teams and we can be certain that both teams will be pushing for strong points finishes in the final three races.

With the Constructors Championship decided. It just leaves the Drivers Championship. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took victory at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix and extended his championship lead by 17 points. There is still everything to play for between the two Mercedes drivers, although some believe that Hamilton does have the upper hand.

With the race in the central part of North America we can expect rather late times for this weekend. Below are the TV broadcast times for the 2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix(All times are GMT+2)

Free Practice 1: Friday 17:00

Free Practice 2: Friday 21:00

Free Practice 3: Saturday 17:00

Qualifying: Saturday 20:00

Race: Sunday 22:00

You can follow us on Twitter (@F1_Madness) for live commentary on all the sessions for the US GP.