Sunday's F1 United States GP will be broadcast live on 5 Live and BBC Sport.
Max Verstappen was worried just 24 hours before setting pole position at the United States Grand Prix. He had qualified in one of the most thrilling sessions of this gripping Formula 1 series.
Red Bull's Red Bull team arrived in Austin fully aware that Mercedes seemed to be on a roll.
Mercedes was the form team, regardless of how you look at it, whether you consider basic results or performance trends on analytics graphs. Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen's title rival, has long enjoyed success at the Circuit of the Americas. He has won five of the eight races on this beautiful circuit, which is close to a vibrant, wonderful city.
The Mercedes cars were able to set the pace in Texas' first practice, almost a second ahead of Verstappen. Verstappen was frightened when they passed Verstappen.
He said that he thought of P1 as "quite a large gap." We improved slowly, but today we were able jump ahead. This is a tremendous effort by the team.
Hamilton admitted that he had witnessed his car's performance decline and was somewhat perplexed.
He said, "I don’t know." It started out well, but then they got faster. I don't know how much slower we've gotten. However, it's been a real struggle to get the car to go where we are normally.
Red Bull is fast again.
This about-turn in form is what explained it? Both men were unsure. It could be due to the unusually hot temperatures F1 is experiencing this weekend in Austin - 30C is a lot warmer than it's ever been for this race, which is always held in October/November - and the combination with those with an unusually abrasive circuit.
This means that the tyres are being put through the mill. It is likely that teams will need to stop at two pit stops to get new tyres in order to finish the race.
Carlos Sainz started on it in fifth after a Ferrari strategy plan went wrong. He joked that the'soft' tire is useless over long distances. Even though the medium grip is being used hard to get around the challenging mix of corners at Cota, the medium is still useful.
This is made worse by the high ambient temperatures. Although the 'hard' tire has not been used yet, it is expected to be a prominent part of the race.
Red Bull clearly have been trying to improve their car's speed, and this is not the only thing that Red Bull has done. The fact that Verstappen was not able to keep up with Valtteri Bottas in the last race in Turkey was quite a wakeup call.
Verstappen stated that while we were not happy with Turkey's performance, it was a very different track. The tyres, which are the ones that touch the ground, have seen a lot of different behavior throughout the year. If you can find more, they can make a big difference.
Verstappen stated that it was an unexpected outcome.
He said that he was a little surprised, but that he could see the car swinging through the season. It's doing a great job, and I'm glad to see that it continues to do so. But the race will be different.
Hamilton was also suspicious of the rubber, particularly since Mercedes tends to struggle more than Red Bull when the temperature rises.
He said that part of the problem is likely due to overheating the tires, which is affecting everyone. It's been a challenge.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 boss, admitted that the team hadn't yet figured out why they lost relative pace between Friday and Saturday, but acknowledged they had not "met their expectations". However, he also added another problem to the mix: the bumps on track.
Red Bull had to repair cracks in Verstappen’s rear wing before qualifying. Wolff stated that Mercedes had also had to make allowances and that this had adversely affected performance.
Wolff stated that the car was "bottoming out quite heavily" and that it broke. He also said that there were some mitigation steps that could have been taken to ensure that the car didn't die so hard that it would not be destroyed during the race. This was a compromise to go fast around the track but it may have been necessary to finish.
Ben Stiller is just one of many celebrities who are back in the paddock
Round 17: Seconds Out
This sets up an interesting race between the men who have won the season. It's been awhile since they were head-to-head at the track. But they will do so on Sunday.
Verstappen starts the race six point clear of Hamilton in championship. He also has Sergio Perez, his teammate, as a wing man. Hamilton, on the other hand, is down in ninth with Valtteri Bottas, his teammate, after Mercedes fitted his car with yet another engine. This resulted in a five-place penalty.
After the collisions between Hamilton and Verstappen at Silverstone and Monza, the pair were asked how they would handle the first corner on Sunday. The question was met with frustration by Verstappen.
He said, "Like professionals always try," "We're not the only ones who touch in this sport. It happens. It happens. We are in the front row. Everyone is hoping for a great race.
Hamilton stated that "This race is one of my favorites of the year" and that it was because of the city and the crowds who visit. There's a buzz from the moment you arrive at the circuit, both for the Americans and the Mexicans. We should give them a great race.
Texas has seen a return to the masses
It feels almost like normal at the race
Hamilton has a great point about Austin's atmosphere this year. This is an amazing city. The city's downtown and surrounding areas buzz with vibrant nightlife, featuring live music and a variety of restaurants.
It is also a unique track. People come from all over the US, including the heartlands of east and west coast road racing. They also travel from Mexico to enjoy the track.
However, this year, perhaps due to the pandemics, things seem to have picked up a bit.
It is a spectacular race with over 120,000 spectators on Friday and Saturday and 140,000 on Sunday. Austin seems busyer than ever. Reservations for restaurants are in high demand. It almost feels like racing before Covid turned the entire world upside down.
The paddock has seen its busiest since the outbreak of the pandemic. This weekend, some of the Covid protocols were relaxed. Media are now permitted to enter the teams' headquarters for their first time. However, this was under strict restrictions. It's not just this, it's also interesting to consider if things would be the same elsewhere.
The paddock is bustling with activity, which is due to the fact that the teams have had many more guests since Covid's arrival.
This is because the race is where it is. There is also a certain discomfort. While F1 personnel adhere to this rule with great fervor, many guests are not able to follow the same rules. It's the same in city. Texas governor opposes masks, and Austin residents who do wear them are considered minority.
However, F1's favorite pastime - gossiping and rumour-mongering-- is back in full force thanks to the buzzy paddock.
It was a mix of many things this weekend.
The future of this race is one. Austin doesn't have a contract but many will be pleased to hear that it is poised to keep its place on this calendar long-term, despite the arrival in Miami of a new US race and the pursuit of another one in Las Vegas.
It will be difficult to seal the deal in Vegas - F1 wants to track the famous Strip; all-powerful casino objections - but even if it does, Austin is to remain one of the three tracks.
There are also the possibilities of an Andretti racing organization taking over the Alfa Romeo/Sauber race team - although this was possible a few weeks back, it now seems far more unlikely, so the word is out.
Aston Martin's former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh will be attending his first race as CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies. Otmar Szafnauer, the future team principal, is also in question. At Alpine, Davide Brivio is the same person, having only recently arrived in this year's inaugural season.
The future of F1's'sprint' format is also in question. Three races have been held this season, with qualifying moving to Friday and a one-third race on Saturday to establish the grid for the grand prix.
Last week, bosses agreed that there would be six more events in 2022. This is up from the three this year. There are still discussions about changing the format.
There is a growing consensus that it was wrong to award pole position for the sprint race winner. It would have been better to award it to the fastest qualifying man as usual.
However, it is more important to keep the "sprint" separate from the main event.
BBC Sport has been informed by senior sources that most teams support a move to give more points for the sprint and to start the race with a grid in reverse championship order.
Qualifying, still to take place on Friday, would determine the grid for F1's grand prix. This will satisfy the purist instincts and delight many F1 fans. The'sprint could be able to fully realize its purpose d'tre, as it would provide more entertainment than the two previous events. These tend to be procesions with very little racing.
Sources say that most teams are in agreement with this. However, not all agree so it might be too late to make progress next year. Talks on the subject, including the budget cap for 2022, are ongoing. It seems that this is the direction of travel at the moment.
