United States Grand Prix Betting Guide: Preview, Statistics & Picks

2024 United States Grand Prix Preview

All eyes in the motorsports world will be on the 2024 United States Grand Prix which is the 53rd time it has been held and the 12th time it has been at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

When is the United States Grand Prix?

The US Grand Prix will take place on Sunday the 20th of October 2024.

The race weekend actually starts two days earlier on Friday the 18th of October 2024 when we will have the first hour-long practice session.

It's a chance for the teams to have a shakedown of their cars and for drivers to start testing setups, three and a half hours later we have the qualification for Sunday's race.

Saturday is all about the Sprint, starting off with the Sprint Shootout which will determine the grid for the Sprint Race which takes place four and a half hours after the shootout.

By the time Sunday comes around, we will know the starting grid for the main race, and drivers and teams will have already picked up points from the sprint race.

US Grand Prix Schedule

• 10/18/2023 - Free Practice 1
• 10/18/2023 - Qualifying
• 10/19/2023 - Sprint Shootout
• 10/19/2023 - Sprint
• 10/20/2023 - Race

United States Grand Prix Trends

So far we have had eleven races held at the Circuit of the Americas and so far if you have not qualified on the front row, then you have struggled!

Five of the ten winners started on the pole with the other five winners before 2023, all doing so from second on the grid, meaning all ten winners started on the front row.

The only exception to date was in 2023 when Max won from sixth but it was somewhat of a discrepancy as he actually qualified on pole only to have a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.

The fastest laps with an additional point available have become much more competitive, you will often see Red Bull pull Perez in late for fresh tires when Max is leading to try and take the point away from other teams.

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Red Bull scored the fastest lap on the first three GPs here in Texas with Seb Vettel recording all three of those in 2012, 2013 & 2014, however, they have not had a single fastest lap since!

The last seven of the last eight GPs have been split between Mercedes (x4) and Ferrari (x3), two more for Vettel in his Ferrari (2016 & 2017) with Charles Leclerc getting the other in 2019 whilst Hamilton (2018 & 2021), Rosberg (2015) and Russell (2022) picked them up for Mercedes.

Seb Vettel announced his retirement at the end of the 2022 season which means he will not be adding to his US Grand Prix figures, five fastest laps from the ten years in Austin is an outstanding achievement.

The OLBG expert F1 handicappers will be putting up their picks on the race closer to the time of the race, obviously given the statistics about the winners, plenty will be waiting to see who qualifies on the front row!

US Grand Prix History

The first official year when the US Grand Prix was part of the Formula One World Championship was in 1959 when New Zealander Bruce McLaren won the race at Sebring International Raceway which was located in Highlands County, Florida.

There were previous races between 1908 & 1958, however, these were not part of the F1 World Championships, Frenchman Louis Wagner won the first-ever GP which took place at Savannah in 1908.

Since being part of the F1 World Championship series, not a single American has won the race, however, prior to 1959, a total of six races were won by Americans with David Bruce-Brown (1910 & 1911), Caleb Bragg (1912), Eddie Pullen (1914) and in 1916 it was a joint win for Howdy Wilcox & Johnny Aitken.

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US Grand Prix Circuits

The Circuit of the Americas which is located in Austin, Texas is the sixth track to be used for the US Grand Prix whilst it has been part of the F1 World Championship, as mentioned it started off at Sebring International Raceway in 1959 and then a year later it was staged at the Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California.

The first real home it had was at Watkins Glen International in New York, it was home of the GP from 1961 up until 1980 although the circuit did change, from 1961-70 they raced on the Long Course, and then from 1971-80, they raced on the much more technical inner track with the Esses chicane being added in 1975.

• 1959 - Sebring
• 1960 - Riverside
• 1961-1980 - Watkins Glen
• 1989-1991 - Phoenix
• 2000-2007 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• 2012-Present - Circuit of the Americas

The next temporary home was the Phoenix Street Circuit in Arizona which was used from 1989-91, the track in 1991 changed dramatically from the first two years and that proved to be the last US Grand Prix until it returned in 2000 with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana the new home until 2007.

Because of financial problems, after seven years we once again lost the US GP from the F1 calendar, however, it again returned in 2012 with the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas its new home and where it has remained ever since.

As well as the US Grand Prix, the Circuit of the Americas also features in the NASCAR Cup Series hosting the Texas Grand Prix which takes place in March of each year. Whilst not at this track, the IndyCar Series comes to Texas with a race at the Texas Motor Speedway which is in Fort Worth.

Circuit of the Americas. (2023, October 9). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_of_the_Americas

Previous US Grand Prix Winners

Here is a complete list of winners of the US Grand Prix from the very first GP in 1908 right up to the latest winner, races from 1959 onwards have been part of the F1 World Championships.

US Grand Prix Repeat Winning Drivers

The most successful driver in the US Grand Prix is the seven-time F1 Drivers Champion, Lewis Hamilton who dominated when the GP returned to the F1 calendar. After winning it in 2007, he also won it on its return in 2012, Seb Vettel won it in 2013 but then Lewis won four consecutive races between 2014 & 2017.

His win in 2016 tied Michael Schumacher's record of five wins and then he broke that a year later in 2017. At present, following his win in 2022, Max and Lewis are the only current F1 drivers to have multiple wins in this GP.

US Grand Prix Repeat Winning Constructors

The win for Kimi Räikkönen in 2018 moved Ferrari on to ten wins in the US GP making them the most successful constructors in the race, they dominated in the era when it was held at Indianapolis winning 6 of the 8 races including five consecutive.

The closest team to them is McLaren who has eight victories with their last coming in 2012, Lotus who are no longer part of F1 also has eight wins here whilst Mercedes has a total of six wins, and Red Bull with four wins the only other active team with multiple wins.

US Grand Prix Repeat Winning Manufacturers

Ford which was built by Cosworth still lead the way, they notched up ten victories between 1967 and 1980, however, the pack is closing in on them and it will surely only be a matter of time before they are replaced at the top.

Ferrari is just one behind on ten wins and Mercedes is just one further back on nine wins. Honda who provided the winning engine for three consecutive races in 1989, 90 & 91 picked up their first win in thirty years in 2021 to move them on to four wins.

Contributor Details

Andy Powell manages all of our Motor Racing content as a huge F1 and Speedway fan, giving up much of his weekend to watching the action unfold in qualifying and betting on the various potential outcomes as well as managing the Motor Racing Tips and Tipsters in the competition. Ably assisting with the data collection as necessary is our Data Scientist on the expert team, Dan Tracey.

Dan Tracey

Data scientist and football editor

Dan Tracey is a multi-talented writer, data analyst and podcaster whose six-year career in the sports data sphere has seen incredible successes. From helping UEFA create their annual technical reports to writing articles for Sports Betting Websites including sites like TheLinesUS and Goal - there's no shortage of areas where his expertise shines through!

Andy Powell

Content editor

🏎️🏁 Outside of horse racing and football, Andy also enjoys spending his weekends following Formula 1. His dedication is such that he doesn't mind setting alarms for odd hours to catch both qualifying sessions and the races.