You go all the way to Japan, and then find out the event is cancelled.

That is exactly what has happened to Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly. He has taken part in the last two Grands Prix, finishing 14th in Malaysia and 13th in Japan, but was allowed to miss this race as he was in contention to win the Super Formula finale.

However, that has now been cancelled. In his place, Brendon Hartley has been handed his chance for his Formula 1 debut and will be looking to take advantage of his good fortune.

As always, you have a role to play in all of this.

Yesterday we had a good reaction to our call for your first Grand Prix memories and today we want to hear those times when you met someone from the Formula 1 world.

Send us your stories, along with any pictures you may have, using the hashtag #bbcf1

BBC Radio 5 live

We have commentary of the final practice session with the BBC Radio 5 live team now.

The commentary is only available online and you can listen along by pressing the play button at the top.

Haas struggled yesterday in their home event, but both drivers - Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean - feel like they can make the necessary improvements.

It is a big weekend for Hartley's Toro Rosso team-mate Daniil Kvyat, who is fighting for his Formula 1 future after being dropped for the past two races.

He sounds confident of a decent day.

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

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Brendon Hartley played himself in gently in the Toro Rosso on Friday, 1.2secs off team-mate Daniil Kvyat on his first run-in a single-seater since 2012. Out of the car, the New Zealander was calmness personified, a lightness of touch and sense of humour making his news conference an enjoyable experience.

“I‘m 27, I‘m not a young rookie,” he said. “It was a pretty positive first day. I tried to not over-think it, I just tried to go out and see how I felt in the first session. “We had some issues with the helmet lifting up and trying to choke me. I guess they designed the car around a certain helmet and I’ve turned up with a different one. So we’re getting on top of that.” His race runs at the end of the session were very impressive.

“I feel positive I can do the drive come Sunday,” he said. “The feedback I got so far from everyone was positive. They were really happy with the long run and how I managed the tyres at the end, which is a big part of the job.” He was seen getting some advice from his friend Daniel Ricciardo, watching his progress will be fascinating.

Image source, Getty Images

It was raining for session one yesterday, before clearing up and today it is nice and bright in Austin.

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

Speaking of Verstappen...

Not too long ago he tweeted this and expects another good day.

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

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Red Bull are looking racy again this weekend - especially Max Verstappen, whose bank balance has increased significantly following his signing of a new contract with the team until 2020, a year longer than previously.

The Dutchman was leading the charge against Mercedes on Friday, 0.4secs off Lewis Hamilton on qualifying pace and next fastest on race pace - 0.1secs off Hamilton on average on both ultra-softs and softs. This just increases Ferrari’s headaches.

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Carlos Sainz did a highly impressive job on his first day with Renault, narrowly out-pacing team-mate Nico Hulkenberg despite never having driven the car before. “We did have a bit different programmes especially on the aero side, correlating stuff, to try to understand what happened in previous races for the team,” Sainz said.

“But if you had told me yesterday I would have been on the pace, I would have signed immediately the paper. So I have to be happy with that.” But he is keeping his expectations for qualifying in check, at least in public. “Let’s see how we keep adapting to the car and we keep adapting the car to myself, which is also a bit of a factor,” he said.

“These days, 2017 cars you really need to have 100% confidence before going flat out into those Esses here in Austin and we still need to do some work in that to make sure I am fully confident. Hopefully we make the right steps for that. It was a very positive day.

"If we keep on this line hopefully the targets will be the targets Renault has had the whole season and is Q3. It was only really Suzuka that they did not go into Q3 but we can keep pushing and target that. If we do it, perfect. If not, there is still a 56-lap race to do so no pressure.”

Image source, Getty Images

Kayleigh: Reading along with #bbcf1, external while at Alton Towers. Yay for long queue times!

Don't worry we will keep you up to date with what promises to be a rollercoaster day. Well, maybe.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Valtteri Bottas is so far this weekend showing no signs of ending his post-summer struggles with the Mercedes.

Off Lewis Hamilton’s pace by 0.6secs in both sessions, he said: "I wasn't that comfortable, but we did end up with very different set-ups to Lewis. He definitely he had a strong day - me maybe not so much. There are a lot of things with the set-up still to be improve, and also from my side many things to be done better, especially with tyre preparation.

"But I'm still confident that if I manage to improve into the right direction it still can be good and be a close battle.”

Image source, Getty Images

This race is at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, and here, courtesy of the official Formula 1 Twitter account, are some handy stats you need to know about the track.

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

Jeremiah Kariuki: Given the form Hamilton was in yesterday, only a disaster or himself keep him from dominating today!

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

While Sebastian Vettel struggled, Lewis Hamilton continued on his serene way on a track he loves. “I have been really happy in the car,” he said. “I have been really able to extract a lot.

This is a strong circuit for me. if you get a tally of all the circuits, strengths and weaknesses for different drivers, there are tracks where you are stronger than others in terms of where you qualify and I think you are seeing that today in the times.”

And what did he make of Vettel’s problems? “I just focus on my job,” Hamilton said. “The only thing I did see was Sebastian making a mistake, but otherwise I have not really looked at the rest of it, been focused on making sure I stay on track, that all the laps stay in my programme, and be the best prepared and make the best changes in the direction we go.

"I want to win this race, that is what I am working towards. I am not being distracted by looking at other people’s times.”

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Sebastian Vettel had a day to forget on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas, spinning off on his first flying lap and trashing a set of tyres, half a second off Lewis Hamilton on his qualifying simulation run, and then a problem that made the front axle “feel like jelly” preventing any further meaningful running.

Ferrari could not find anything wrong with the car but have changed his chassis as a precaution - and as everyone in F1 knows, this is the last resort teams take, often as a psychological ploy, when a driver is struggling but there is no obvious problem. Renault did it with Jolyon Palmer at one point, for example.

Vettel said: “I need to find the rhythm, but the car is quick so I am not too worried. we just need to make sure we get everything in order and it should be a good day.”

Image source, EPA

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

It is a steamy weekend here in south Texas so far, a stickiness and deceptive heat creating the overwhelming feeling that a storm could break out at any moment. And so far the heavy atmosphere seems to be getting to Ferrari.

Friday in Austin continued to the feeling that this world championship is surrendering itself to Lewis Hamilton in a way that seemed improbable, at best, little more than a month ago. Ferrari’s Asian implosion crossed the Pacific, with Sebastian Vettel spinning and then developing a car problem that led to a chassis change.

Vettel played down the seriousness of these problems afterwards, but then he would, wouldn’t he? Can Ferrari halt the impression of the wheels coming off?

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and thanks for joining us. I'm Michael Emons and this is BBC Sport's live text commentary for the third practice session and then the qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix.

Let's start of looking back at yesterday's action, courtesy of our chief F1 writer Andrew Benson.

Can anyone stop Lewis Hamilton?

He has won four of the last five races and dominated the practice sessions yesterday, as he was fastest in both of them.

The challenge has been set. Can any of the other drivers match him?

Image source, Getty Images