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The upcoming Austin Grand Prix is the 18th and last second race of the 2013 season. Circuit of the Americas (COTA), which is the first racing circuit of the country, held its first Grand Prix in 2012. Since the Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships are finished, it is going to have Sebastian Vettel on the limelight as he is on the run to make two more records.
The five things which will have attention in Austin have Vettel definitely on the top of the list. The 26-year-old four times World Champion has been making the headlines of the sport in the last seven Grand Prixs.
Can Vettel make it 8/8?
2013 has been an amazing year for this young German where he has won 11 races out of the 13. The seven consecutive wins tell the entire fairytale story of his this year. Winning the remaining two GP will equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins. And he is in a great form to equal the Italian Alberto Ascari’s record of nine consecutive race wins which he has held since 1952.
Vettel started on pole last year and but unfortunately had been defeated by Lewis Hamilton. So he’ll be very keen to perform well in this 20-turns circuit. And his second place in 2012 US grand prix was enough for the red Bull racing team to seal the Constructor’s Championship, which they have already won this year.
Hamilton would want to defend his win
He would surely want to repeat his 2012 performance in this Grand prix and end his season on a winning note. He missed the pole position just by one-tenth of a second last year but made up for that in the race when he overtook Vettel like a champion in lap 42 when Vettel’s win was quite certain.
Hamilton finished sixth and seventh in India and Abu Dhabi respectively which was not very appealing. Mercedes has to create something different for the last two races of if they want to get their drivers near to Vettel.
Raikkonen to miss the last two races
He has a long-standing back problem which worsened in Singapore this September. He had decided to undergo a surgery which keeps him out of the remaining two races of the season. In his absence, Lotus would choose their test driver, Davide Valsecchi to race instead of Kimi. It will be the first Italian driver racing since Jarno Trulli in 2007.
Raikkonen will rejoin in 2014 with Ferrari with whom he won his only Championship in 2007. So it’s his adieu to the Lotus F1 racing team, the team which gave him a chance to make a comeback to the sport after a gap of two years. Moreover he has been having a pay dispute with his current employers.
Webber’s last second race
Mark Webber has only two races left in his F1 career. Since his second half of the season did not go as per his plans so he would expect to end his glorious career smiling. With two retirements in the last four races, Red Bull racing will expect some better results from this veteran.
He will not recall 2012’s race in the COTA where he retired in lap17 on the shutdown of KERS and eventually the alternator failed on his car. Let’s see what is stored for Webber in the coming weekend.
Maldonado, Di Resta still without a seat in 2014
More than anybody, it is very important for these two to perform well in the upcoming Austin Grand Prix. After the announcement of Felipe Massa being signed in Pastor Maldonado’s place, the Venezuelan must be having sleepless nights since he has not been signed yet by any other team.
And there is no news about the contract extension of Paul Di Resta in Sahara Force India. Even though he has had four retirements this season, he has got some good results for the team. So there are chances for Force India to retain him as one of their drivers for the 2014 season.
