Summary

  • Hamilton fastest, Verstappen 2nd, Vettel 3rd

  • Vettel spins, complaining of handling problems

  • Hamilton can win the world title on Sunday

  • Final practice at 17:00 BST on Saturday; qualifying at 22:00

Live Reporting

Michael Emons

  1. 'A weekend you cannot take your eyes off'

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

    There have been five US Grands Prix at the Circuit of the Americas and Lewis Hamilton has won four of them. There have been five races since the F1 summer break and the Mercedes driver has won four of them.

    So it does not take much of a leap to work out who might be the favourite to win this weekend. But there is a much bigger prize potentially at stake. Hamilton could become a four-time world champion if results go his way on Sunday.

    He thinks it is “silly” to suggest it because “you can’t expect Ferrari to have a difficult weekend again”. Logic would suggest he is right. But logic and F1 do not always go hand in hand. It is going to be a weekend you cannot take your eyes off, and it starts right here.

    Sebastian Vettel and Lewis HamiltonAFP

  2. Well, it was close

    We were gearing ourselves us for an epic title showdown, with Sebastian Vettel holding a seven-point lead in the title race after the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August.

    Things have not gone to plan for Ferrari's Vettel since then with a third in Italy, a retirement in Singapore, a fourth in Malaysia and another failure to finish in Japan.

    In the meantime, Hamilton has won three of those last four races and came second in the other one (in Malaysia.)

    As Mercedes happily reminded us with this tweet earlier this week.

    (BBC Sport app users may need to click on the link to see the tweet).

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy and privacy policy before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

  3. Hello and welcome to BBC Sport's live text of the opening two practice sessions of the United States Grand Prix.

    It could well be a memorable weekend for Lewis Hamilton.

  4. A title-winning weekend for Lewis?

    Lewis Hamilton has won four of the last five races.

    If he does it again this weekend then the world title could well be his again.

    Leiws HamiltonAFP