United States Grand Prix Starts Today in Texas, It's the 19th Round of the 2022 F1 Season

Formula 1 has been around since 1950, and it only took a few years for the United States Grand Prix to become part of the calendar. The first one took place at Sebring International Raceway in 1959, and Bruce McLaren was the fastest man of the day.

The event was then moved to Riverside International Raceway in 1960, before a two-decade-long stint at Watkins Glen International. It's worth noting that British drivers won 12 of those events, with James Hunt scoring two victories of his own in 1976 and 1977.

After an 8-year hiatus, the United States Grand Prix would move to Phoenix for three races. But it would be out of the calendar again, between 1992 and 1999 before Michael Schumacher won the first US GP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He won five out of the eight events that were held there, with Lewis Hamilton closing this chapter with a victory in 2007. But it seemed that F1 management didn't care for a return to Indiana, and after long negotiations, the action moved to the newly opened Circuit of the Americas in 2012.

Just as Michael Schumacher reigned supreme in Indianapolis, so did Lewis Hamilton in Austin, Texas. He won the inaugural race there in 2012 and added four more victories in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Just four other drivers have managed to climb to the highest spot on the podium at this venue: Sebastian Vettel, when he was still racing for Red Bull Racing, Kimi Raikkonen, when he was driving a Ferrari, and Valtteri Bottas during his stint at Mercedes. As the event didn't take place in 2020, it was Max Verstappen that crossed the finish line in P1 in 2021.

Lewis Hamilton was P2 overall last year, with Sergio Perez coming in third and Charles Leclerc in fourth. Even so, the Ferrari driver still holds the lap record at the Circuit of the Americas.

In 2019, he stopped the clock at 1:36.169, which is more than two seconds faster than Hamilton's fastest lap of 2021. At this point, Max Verstappen has already clinched his second consecutive F1 Title. Sergio Perez is just one point ahead of Charles Leclerc as they're fighting for P2 at the end of the season.

George Russell and Carlos Sainz aren't entirely out of the picture just yet, as there is still time for both of them to try and get up into P3. With the United States GP included, there are four more races to go with over 100 points still up for grabs. Drivers will have their first practice session of the weekend today at 2 PM CDT, with a second session starting at 5 PM CDT.

Tomorrow's qualifying session will set the grid for Sunday's main event, which is set to kick off at 2 PM CDT. With 56 laps to go, drivers will be engaged in a 191.633 miles (308.405 km) long battle to determine the winner. As F1 2022 is free to play this weekend, we'll leave you to a virtual fast lap around COTA that might open up your appetite for the race. Let's just hope it won't rain again on Sunday!