Lewis Hamilton in driving seat for fourth Formula One world title as he returns to happy hunting ground in Texas
Briton will seek a fifth win in six visits to Texas this weekend
The Briton leads nearest rival Sebastian Vettel by 59 points with four races remaining and will take this year’s crown if he can outscore him by 16 points.
Since their home Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ferrari have succumbed to a series of mechanical setbacks and mistakes that culminated, at the Japanese Grand Prix on October 8, in Vettel being forced to retire due to the failure of a $60 spark plug.
That embarrassing exit followed a crash with his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen in Singapore and an engine problem in Malaysia – incidents that allowed Hamilton to capitalise for Mercedes by grabbing three wins in four races.
Hamilton now has 306 points and Vettel, the only other man to have won at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, has 247.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made clear that he would not stop him.
“The more you try to limit him – put him in a box – the more detrimental it will be for his performance,” he said.
With temperatures forecast to continue at around 30 degrees Celsius it may be that conditions favour Ferrari’s faster, but less reliable car at a track that Hamilton, chasing a sixth overall United States GP win, relishes.
Hunting his ninth win this year, Hamilton will know that Vettel is sure to mount a ferocious attack of his own to prevent him joining the German and Alain Prost as four-time champions.
Only Michael Schumacher, with seven titles, and Juan-Manuel Fangio, with five, have more and a fourth Hamilton triumph would make him the most successful British driver.
Fully aware that both Ferrari and Red Bull have shown superior speed in recent weeks, Wolff has, however, warned Hamilton and his team to avoid any complacency.
“The team is operating at an incredibly high level in every area and continuing to develop,” he said. “But Lewis has driven brilliantly this year and, since the summer break in particular, he has been on another level.
“It has been impressive to watch him extracting everything from the car and working with the team to solve problems and improve even further.
“But we can take nothing for granted ... We have seen a strong points swing in our favour in both championships – good fortune has played its part, of course – and we have put ourselves in the right position to make the most of the opportunities.
For Fernando Alonso, it will be a chance to thank the American fans for their support of him when he took part in the Indianapolis 500 – and he plans to switch helmets and use the one he wore at ‘The Brickyard’ in May.
The weekend will also see New Zealand’s Le Mans 24-Hours winner Brendan Hartley, a former Red Bull squad junior and reserve driver, make his debut with Toro Rosso alongside returning Daniil Kvyat.
Hartley will be the ninth Kiwi to take part in an F1 race on Sunday, if he qualifies and takes a place on the grid.
He succeeds Carlos Sainz who has been released to join Renault.