Only five rounds remain in the 2021 season and just who will walk away as champion is as unclear as it was at the first race of the year.

This weekend Formula 1 is in Austin, Texas for the 17th round of season. The Circuit of the Americas has proved a popular one amongst fans and drivers since its introduction in 2012. F1 returns to the US for the first time since 2019 following a Covid-induced absence from last year’s calendar. F1 also returns to North America on the heels of the news that Miami has entered into the fray as a Grand Prix host for 2022.

As the US eyes up a big piece of the F1 pie the battle raging between Red Bull and Mercedes and Verstappen and Hamilton seems to have been balanced on a knife edge since the opening of the season in mid-March. Hamilton’s exercise in damage limitation at the Turkish Grand Prix could’ve gone slightly better however he will arrive in Texas at a circuit where he excels. With six wins around this track and without any penalties, as it stands, there is every expectation that he’ll start the weekend as favourite for the top step of the podium. But this season has been like few others for Hamilton. Over the last several seasons the second half of the year is, traditionally, when Hamilton would hit a level that previously made him all but unbeatable. But this hasn’t been the case in 2021 and the relentlessness which has previously been synonymous with Hamilton simply isn’t present. Nevertheless, there is still a handful of races to go and Hamilton is expected to raise the bar once more.

What also cannot be ignored is the engine issues that Mercedes have been struggling with over the last few months. The issues, seemingly contained to the internal combustion engine, has already forced two replacements on Valtteri Bottas’s side of the garage. And one of the engines replaced ran only 931 km before giving up the ghost. It’ll be an area of particular focus for Mercedes in the run towards the end of the season. In a championship as closely contested as 2021 all fingers are crossed that unreliability does not have a say in the ultimate outcome.

Despite Hamilton’s grand record around the Circuit of the Americas the Red Bull should perform especially well in the first sector of the lap. It’s high-speed sweeping turns, akin the sector one of Suzuka and the Maggots-Becketts complex at Silverstone, will emphasize the aero proficiency of the Red Bull. With the weather set fair for the weekend it’s likely to come down to the smallest of margins yet again. Teammates, Bottas and Perez, also become ever more vital not only in terms of support for Hamilton and Verstappen in qualifying, but also to serve as a potential obstacle where strategy comes into play.

Given the high-speed nature of the track Ferrari are not expected to feature as prominently.  McLaren on the other hand, now powered by Mercedes, and with an in-form Lando Norris could drive home the advantage over constructor rivals Ferrari. 

Six points is all that separates Verstappen from Hamilton at the top of the driver’s standings. It’s a thin margin that continues to ebb and flow between the pair. And it simply wouldn’t be Formula 1 in 2021 if there wasn’t at least a few more twist.