Round 16 of the Formula 1 World Championship takes place across the Atlantic in the great state of Texas, USA at the Circuit of Americas in Austin.

This purpose built, 5.515km, counter clockwise circuit features some of the most thrilling corners on the F1 Calendar. The track is situated on the outskirts of the city of Austin, Texas. The circuit has a very good mix of fast, medium and slow speed corners that challenge the driver throughout the lap.

Turn 1 is a left handed hair pin that features a 41m elevation change. The braking zone is uphill which tempts the drivers to go as late as possible on the brakes. If they get it right they’re perfectly setup for the series of esses that follow all the way to Turn 9. Time can be gained or lost very early on in the lap so its very important to get the braking into T1 right.

Turns 17 and 18 are taken as one long, triple apex right handed turn. Drivers are at full throttle throughout the corner with the exit being slightly off camber which makes it a bit tricky.

Car setup tends to focus on mechanical front end grip with medium down force for the high speed sections.

Mercdes’s Lewis Hamilton is on the edge of clinching his 3rd world championship title at the Circuit of the Americas. Hamilton is currently sitting on 302 points in the championship with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel 66 points behind in 2nd place with 326 points with Hamilton’s team mate Nico Rosberg 3rs on 229 points, 73 points adrift of the Briton.

To win the championship Hamilton will need to outscore Vettel by 9 points and Rosberg by two points. Simply put. If Hamilton wins, Vettel will have to finish in 2nd to take the championship challenge to the next race. Anything lower than 2nd for Vettel, Hamilton will be crowned World Champion.

To stay in contention, Rosberg needs a DNF from Hamilton. A victory from Hamilton will take Rosberg, mathematically, out of the equation.

With the race in America, TV viewers in Europe and Africa will enjoy a quiet evening of F1.

Broadcast times are GMT+2

*Change made to reflect the postponement of Qualifying from Saturday to Sunday morning