US Grand Prix: F1 live
8.14pm GMT
Lap 4: Finally, were underway at the end of Lap 4! Race!
8.13pm GMT
Lap 3: Safety car still out, will get out of the way at the end of this lap.
8.11pm GMT
Lap 2: Still under the safety car here. None of the top 10 have pitted. Button did, and asks McLaren about his car hitting some of that debris. McLaren are fairly sure that there is nothing obviously wrong.
8.09pm GMT
Lap 1: Rosberg gets off to an excellent start, and uses that to block off Hamilton who tries to surge up the inside. The German holds his position through the narrow turns of 3/4/5/6! Meanwhile Massa leapfrogs his Williams teammate Bottas into third. Sutil collides with Perez, and the safety car is out! There is debris all over the track, Sutils car is in bits, while Perezs is able to get his car back to the pits. Game over for both, Im afraid, and a blow for all the Mexican fans that have made their way to Texas to support Perez.
8.03pm GMT
Cars are set. Lights are on. Wait for it, were off!
7.58pm GMT
Rosberg has talked about the importance of a good start, he starts on the cleaner side of the grid that should give his car greater grip than Hamiltons. The first corner is a wide one, with lots of room for overtaking, not just on the first lap. Its also a massive climb into that first corner, Rosberg has described it as like driving into the sky.
Jenson Button, who starts today in 12th after a five-place penalty, has mentioned how strong the wind is today. Lots of drivers, Button included, struggled with controlling the rear of their car in similar conditions in qualifying.
7.51pm GMT
Bernie is in less apologetic mood today on the track, regarding the financial issues.
The problem with these people is that they spend more than they earn. The world has moved on. Well get it sorted.
7.48pm GMT
Were 15 minutes away, this is how the drivers line up on the grid today.
1 Nico Rosberg, Mercedes2 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 3 Valtteri Bottas, Williams 4 Felipe Massa, Williams5 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 6 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari7 Kevin Magnussen, McLaren8 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 9 Adrian Sutil, Sauber 10 Pastor Maldonado, Lotus 11 Sergio Perez, Force India 12 Jenson Button, McLaren13 Nico Hulkenberg, Force India14 Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso 15 Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber 16 Romain Grosjean, Lotus 17 Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 18 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
7.46pm GMT
He won this race last year, and he is still the reigning world champion, but Sebastian Vettel has had a pretty indifferent year. Following his sixth power unit change of the season, he will start at the very back in the pit lane (!) this race, but should make his way up the field. When asked where would be a good finish, he replied seventh. Interesting to see if that is a realistic goal.
7.34pm GMT
More good news! Hooray!
The three teams who were ready to boycott Sundays United States Grand Prix, Force India, Sauber and Lotus, have just announced that they will be taking part!
7.30pm GMT
Look everyone, an actual race! Something to distract us all from the miserable mire that Formula One finds itself in: issues over driver safety and the sports finances have dominated the headlines over recent weeks with good reason but for a short period of time to lift your Sunday blues we can focus on answering a fairly simple question: who can drive a load of carbon fibre round a few corners in the shortest time?
Its a huge shame that one of the finest races of the season Austins Circuit of the Americas is expertly laid out with a 40-metre elevation change, challenging corners in front of a knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowd is overshadowed by the crisis over team contracts that has lead to both Marussia and Caterham going into administration both teams will be absent today as a result. Bernie has taken the blame but doesnt seem to have the foggiest as to what to do. Excellent.
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