- WRC. Catalunya. Thursday @ 12pm - 1pm (MAVTV) live
- Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin,
Texas. Practice 1. Friday @ 11am - 1pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
- Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Practice 2. Friday @ 3pm - 4:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
- Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Qualifying. Saturday @ 12:30pm - 4:30pm (NBCSN(HD)) live
- WRC. Catalunya. Sunday @ 7am - 8am (MAVTV) live
- Formula 1 - US Grand Prix; from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Race. Sunday @ 2:30pm - 5:30pm (NBC(HD)) live
- Top Gear (UK). Marathon of past episodes. Monday @ 2pm - 12am (BBCAmerica(HD)) great replays
- Wheeler Dealers. Lancia Delta Integrale 8v. Tuesday @ 4pm - 5pm (VelocityHD) replay
- Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD)
- Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 4pm - 5pm (VelocityHD) replay
We have the 16th round of the 2015 F1 season upon us at Circuit of the America's in Texas this weekend. Since it's local we get plenty of extra coverage which we usually miss, which is nice. Where we last left off was the Grand Prix of Russia. Here are the highlights; Carlos Sainz had a bad accident during FP3 which resulted him going to the hospital overnight for monitoring. He made the grid for the Gran Prix, but unfortunately had another (much less violent) incident which lead to a DNF. Hamilton won the race, but didn't have the seemingly faster Rosberg to battle with. Rosberg started well and lead the race for a few laps before a seemingly odd sticking throttle pedal afflicted his car which lead to a DNF. This is key, because he was being chased by Vettel in the Driver's Championship; Seb took 2nd so he's now in the second spot overall. This definitely doesn't appear to be Nico's year. McLaren had another so so outing, but Jenson got resigned for 2016 as they want to continue to build the car with stability in the drivers seat. We all know what Alonso had to say about Honda over the intercom at Suzuka so its likely he won't be begged to return. Meanwhile the Sahara Force India duo had a good outing all weekend with solid pace, Checo running the quickest. Unfortunately for Hulkenberg he lost the rear end on the opening lap and came together with Ericsson (double DNF). Sergio made his way to the front of the field on an aggressive pit strategy spawned from a yellow flag early in the race, but ran out of grip towards the end, getting passed by both Fins, Raikkonen and Botas. Raikkonen got behind early despite his decent qualifying position on Saturday and was working hard to pass Botas and put his Ferrari on the podium. He tried a very aggressive pass late in the race and stuck his nose in a bit harshly and collided with Botas, ending his race. Kimi broke his front suspension, but made his way around the track to finish 5th, being passed by Checo and Massa while shooting sparks along the way. This gave Force India its second podium in two years, which the team was thrilled with. Botas was pissed of course and the result from the stewards was a 25 second penalty which effectively put Kimi in 8th. Constructors Championship implications abounded, as Rosberg's DNF just about removed any real ability for Mercedes to clinch in Russia like last year, but Kimi's finishing position would be key. Mercedes had to win by 3 or more points to clinch and with Kimi's reduction from 5th to 8th, Mercedes clinched the Constructors' in Russia for a second year in a row.
With the smoke now cleared the Driver's Championship is as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-66), Rosberg (-73), Raikonnen (-179), Bottas (-191). COTA is one of Hams' favorite tracks so this should be another solid fight between the high power output cars.
Enjoy your weekends.
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