United States Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton aims to become world champion for sixth time

Lewis Hamilton is very likely to be celebrating his sixth World Championship at the end of the United States Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Briton, who has won the title in each of the past two years, holds a 74-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas with a maximum of 78 available over the remaining three races of 2019.

Therefore, if Bottas wins this weekend then a finish of eighth or better will do for Hamilton, something he has achieved in 17 of the 18 races this year.

The only time he has not achieved that was at the rain-hit race in Germany, when he crashed behind the safety car and was delayed during a pit stop. Even then he still came ninth.

If Bottas does not win then Hamilton, who has an excellent record at the Circuit of the Americas, will be the world champion no matter what he does.

So, it looks like it will be a 56-lap victory parade for Hamilton, but that does not mean the weekend will be dull.

Overtaking is very much possible at the 5.513km circuit in Austin, as was shown last year, with Max Verstappen starting 18th and finishing second, while Sebastian Vettel recovered from an opening-lap spin to move from 15th to fourth.

Eventually, Kimi Raikkonen – then of Ferrari – won a thrilling race for what will surely be his final grand prix win as he is now in an uncompetitive Alfa Romeo.

Ferrari have had one of their drivers on pole at each of the last six races this season, winning three of them, but it has all been too little too late after Hamilton won eight of the opening dozen races to dominate the drivers’ championship.

If, as expected, he clinches the world title on Sunday it will follow successes in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 and leave him one championship behind Michael Schumacher’s record of seven.

The US Grand Prix is always one of the best attended races of the year, with more than 110,000 people there on race day in 2018. Organisers say that figure will be eclipsed on Sunday.

The action is not just limited to the track, as a number of music stars, including Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Bruno Mars have all performed during grand prix weekends there in the past.

This year, Imagine Dragons will be taking to the stage on Friday, with Pink entertaining the crowd on Saturday.

The championship scenario

Social media

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The track

How to follow the United States Grand Prix on the BBC

BBC Sport has live coverage of practice, qualifying and the race across the BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 Live, plus live digital coverage on the BBC Sport website and app – including audience interaction, expert analysis, debate, voting, features, interviews and audio content.

You can follow all the action and the latest news on the BBC Sport F1 page and via the BBC Sport app, and catch up with analysis and interviews with the BBC Radio 5 Live Chequered Flag podcast.

All times are GMT. Broadcast times are subject to change at short notice.