Five Things to Watch at the 2023 U.S. Grand Prix in Austin

Formula One heads back Stateside this week, returning to the popular Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, for the 2023 United States Grand Prix. Although Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have already wrapped up the drivers’ and constructors’ championship honors for the ’23 season, respectively, there is still a lot of excitement surrounding the race weekend.

The second of three U.S. races this year, Austin has always delivered a fantastic spectacle on and off the race track since its debut on the calendar in 2012. Here are five story lines that you should know ahead of this weekend’s race.

F1 returns to the U.S. this weekend in Austin at Circuit of the Americas.

Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK

United States Grand Prix Top Headlines

Another Sprint weekend

For most F1 fans, they’ll know the format of a race weekend as follows: Friday practice, Saturday qualifying and then the race Sunday. Yet, in 2021, F1 decided to introduce Sprint weekends at several races on the calendar. Here, qualifying moved to a Friday, and instead a 100-km “sprint” race was added to the schedule before normal service resumed Sunday. That format has had many tweaks since then, and Austin is now set to experience a Sprint weekend for the first time.

Friday will see a one-hour practice session, followed by qualifying in the late afternoon. The order of this will determine Sunday’s starting grid, which is when the full-length race gets underway. However, Saturday is now home to a Sprint Shootout and Sprint race.

The Sprint Shootout uses a similar process to regular qualifying, but has three shorter knockout stages. Here the slowest drivers are eliminated based on their lap times, and the grid for the Sprint is decided. Each Sprint is like a minirace, covering a distance of only 100 km compared to the minimum 305 km that a Grand Prix must exceed, and the top eight are all awarded points. 

F1 has also just come from a Sprint weekend in Qatar, where Max Verstappen secured this third title. There are six of these Sprints sprinkled over the course of the season, a new record for F1 and the most recent certainly shook up the order. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri locked in his first win of his rookie year during the Sprint, before finishing a career-best second place the following day for the Grand Prix. 

Ricciardo is back from injury

Daniel Ricciardo might be Australian, but the AlphaTauri driver has always had an obsession with the United States Grand Prix. From repping a Texas Longhorns racing helmet, to showing up at the circuit on the back of a horse with a stars and stripes jacket and cowboy hat, the man goes all out on his Austin visits.

However, this week, there is even more reason to celebrate as this will likely be the first race back for Ricciardo after his hand injury, sustained at the Dutch Grand Prix in August. The Aussie was in the third race of his F1 comeback, but crashed into a barrier during a Friday practice session avoiding an incident up ahead. After undergoing surgery for the metacarpal fractures in his left hand, Ricciardo has had time to rest and reset and looks set to get back behind the wheel again. Having completed a show run for the Red Bull Racing team in Nashville at the weekend, and clocking precious hours in the simulator, Ricciardo’s comeback seems imminent.

Young New Zealander Liam Lawson had been doing a fantastic job covering for Ricciardo’s absence, making his debut in the Netherlands and even scoring his first points in Singapore. His performances have definitely made him one to watch, and he’ll remain AlphaTauri’s reserve driver for the 2024 season alongside Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.

Ricciardo has a true love affair with this circuit, finishing on the podium here in 2014 and ’16. So, what better place for the nicknamed Honey Badger to return to racing? 

Big upgrades on the way for the Haas F1 Team

Despite Andretti’s best efforts in the last few years, Haas still remain the only U.S.-based team on the F1 grid. The team is fronted by drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, with Netflix’s Drive to Survive favorite Guenther Steiner as their team principal. The squad currently sits ninth in the constructors’ championship, after rivals Alfa Romeo achieved a double-points finish last time out in Qatar, but are hoping a huge upgrade package could help them in the final five races of the season.

These upgrades, which teams can bring across the season to modify and hopefully improve their cars, have been in the works for a long time. The team hyped up the modifications confirming that almost every part of the car would be new. “The long-awaited update package on the VF-23 is wholly aerodynamic-led,” Haas stated. “Almost the entire bodywork has been revised, including floor, engine cover, sidepod inlet, sidepods, quarter panel and padding gills.”

Although it is rare to see such a significant overhaul this late in the season, these changes will help Haas gain valuable data and influence the direction the team takes for next year’s car.

Both Hülkenberg and Magnussen will also be rocking special edition overalls to accompany the unique livery being run at their home event. 

Pressure for Pérez and home hero Sergeant

Verstappen might have just clinched another world championship, but his teammate, Sergio Pérez, is not having quite the same fortunes. Pérez, also known as Checo, joined the Red Bull Racing family in the 2021 season, and recently surpassed his 250th Grand Prix in F1—becoming one of only 11 drivers to do so in the championship’s 73 year history. However, despite all that experience and being in one of the most dominant cars seen in modern motor sports, he’s faced recent struggles and has not been putting in the performances expected of him.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner also let his concerns known to the media after the recent Qatar Grand Prix. Pérez, who started Sunday’s race from the pit lane due to a power unit change, finished in 10th but picked up three five-second penalties on his way to the checkered flag for exceeding track limits.

Labeling Checo’s latest race as a “shocker,” Horner said he’d sit down and have a word with the Mexican driver ahead of Austin. Although adamant that nothing had changed much for Pérez, Horner did acknowledge that he’d got himself into a spiral and needed to use the time between races to reset.

With Red Bull known for dropping and swapping drivers in F1—despite existing contacts being in place—Pérez needs to deliver some solid results over the next few events to avoid losing his seat. Now battling Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton for second place in the drivers’ standings, these last five races are crucial. As F1 heads into the tripleheader of races of Austin, Pérez’s home race in Mexico, and Brazil, all in consecutive weekends, are going to be make or break.

There’s also one final seat next season that’s not yet decided, and that’s at Williams Racing. Currently, American Logan Sargeant holds the slot for the rest of 2023, but a series of crashes and incidents means that his reputation has taken quite the hit. There’s no denying that the Miami-born racer has talent; however, he’s still yet to score a championship point and is totaling up a hefty bill for the accidents he’s had since the summer break. The team has suggested that they want him as part of its future, and perhaps an appropriately timed announcement for the American could be made ahead of the weekend’s running. 

F1 Academy makes its F1 debut

As well as the addition of the Sprint to keep fans at COTA happy, there’s another special spectacle on the schedule. F1 Academy, which is in its inaugural season, will conclude in Austin this weekend and crown its first champion. Despite the name linking it to the F1 championship, it has yet to have a race at the same location on the same weekend, until now. The series, which is exclusively for women and aims to give more opportunities and showcase international talents, is made up of 15 drivers from five teams.

Headed up by Susie Wolff—former Williams F1 test driver and Formula E team principal—F1 Academy has big plans for the future. Not only will this weekend be the first time it’s featured on the F1 schedule, but it will also be available to watch live across the world, which hasn’t been an option until now. Next season, each of the 10 F1 teams will also be represented by a driver of their choice and have a car in a similar livery to that of their F1 car. Austin will be a defining moment for the F1 Academy, as Prema’s Marta García, who has a 48-point lead, will race to be crowned the first champion.