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If today is to be the day for Lewis Hamilton's fourth world title, I'll be very surprised if it matches the drama of his first one.

Cast your minds back to 2008 when the then 23-year-old snatched the crown from Felipe Massa with the overtake of Timo Glock on the final corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final race of the season.

That was one of sport's most dramatic moments wasn't it?

It saw Hamilton become the youngest world champion in Formula One history and the first British driver to do so since Damon Hill in 1996.

As mentioned, this could be Lewis Hamilton's fourth world title today. Let's have a quick look at how he won each of his three past titles.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

The overnight storm has washed the track clean, which will have an effect on tyre wear. The cooler conditions could help Mercedes, who would have been nervous had the 30C temperatures of qualifying been repeated for the race - it’s a good bit cooler than that.

It is said to be between a one and a two-stop race, which means that all the teams will be pushing to do a one-stop if possible.”

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Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

It is going to be a fascinating Grand Prix. It is a long shot for Lewis Hamilton but championships have been won with longer shots.

Vettel will be desperate for there to be a change in his fortunes.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Image source, Getty Images

A storm of biblical proportions hit Austin early this morning, with rivers running down pavements - sorry, sidewalks - bringing back memories of the hurricane-hit 2015 event here.

But the rain stopped around 09:00 local time, the sun is creeping out and the race is expected to be dry. It is cooler today then it has been so far this weekend, which is a boost to Mercedes, who can struggle to control tyre temperatures in hot weather.

But the track is ‘green’ and race performance is unknown. Lewis Hamilton can clinch his fourth world title, but he is right to say it is “unlikely”. It’s time to sit down, settle back and watch the day take its course.

Former US president Bill Clinton is among the fans at the Circuit of the Americas.

BBC Radio 5 live

We are live on BBC Radio 5 live right now and you can listen along by pressing the play button at the top of this page.

Our commentary team is Jack Nicholls, Mark Gallagher and Jennie Gow.

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1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
6. Esteban Ocon (Force India)
7. Carlos Sainz (Renault)
8. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
9. Sergio Perez (Force India)
10. Felipe Massa (Williams)
11. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
12. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
13. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
14. Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber)
15. Lance Stroll (Williams)
16. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
18. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
19. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
20. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

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A total of six drivers are out of position as a result of grid penalties for this race, and the much-derided complexities of the system will see Kevin Magnussen, who qualified last and had a three-place penalty for impeding in qualifying, start 17th.

In addition to the already known penalties for Max Verstappen (15 for engines), Nico Hulkenberg (20 for engines), Brendon Hartley (25 for engines used by another driver) and Magnussen and Lance Stroll (three, both for impeding), McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne has had a power-unit change this morning as a result of Honda finding a problem with his MGU-H.

So he has an additional 25 places to add to the five he already had for an internal combustion engine change. For the record, the Belgian, who will now start last, is now on his 11th MGU-H/turbo for the season, when the limit before penalties is four.

Grid penalties

• 3 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
• 3 Lance Stroll (Williams)
• 15 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
• 20 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
• 25 Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
• 30 Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

It has been a dominant weekend so far from Lewis Hamilton.

He was the fastest in each of the three practice sessions and then each of the three stages of qualifying.

But things have not been so straight-forward for most of the other drivers with a host of drivers moving around the grid because of a variety of grid penalties.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

Image source, Rex Features

Ferrari’s title challenge imploded over three races in four weeks in Asia before Formula 1 decamped to the Americas. It is the sort of twist of fate that in the past has led to heads rolling at Maranello, and sure enough the talk this weekend is all about the future of team principal Maurizio Arrivabene - or lack of it.

The talk in the paddock is that Arrivabene could be gone at the end of the year to be replaced by Mattia Binotto, currently technical director. Sources close to Ferrari, though, say that the issue will be discussed at the end of the season.

It could end up being the case but as of now no decision has yet been made on this front by Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne, who is here and on race morning said it would be "idiotic" to replace Arrivabene with Binotto because the team's problems were not down to one man. Marchionne pointed out that he, too, shared responsibility.

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Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, speaking at the driver's parade: "I think the car should be fine. We had a rough start but since then things have got better.

"It should be really good this afternoon. There are a lot of laps, it is a long race.

"A good start always helps but we have good pace so I am pretty confident we can have a good race."

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Austin

A whole heap of razzmatazz is planned ahead of the race here, turning the build-up into more a Super Bowl-type feel than a traditional grand prix. Usain Bolt is here, and is being taken around the track in a Mercedes supercar by Lewis Hamilton.

The cars will leave the pits 15 minutes earlier than normal, giving time for them to be announced on to the grid in groups by boxing presenter Michael Buffer, who will do his trademark “Let’s get ready to rumble” thing.

A plan for Stevie Wonder, who is playing a concert this evening at the track, to play on the grid has been cancelled, though. It’s all very US of A, and may well work well for those at the track, but how it affects the show for the millions watching around the world remains to be seen. Will it take away the best part of the build-up, the grid walk and off-the-cuff driver interviews just minutes before the race?

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Julien A: Crossing the fingers for a DNF from Hamilton.

Daniel Eckersley: Just want a good wheel-to-wheel battle today. Championship has see-sawed all year but on-track confrontation rare between HAM and VET.

Image source, Rex Features

It is not just Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen who have been queuing up for a selfie with Usain Bolt.

Esteban Ocon has also had the chance to meet the legendary athlete.

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

Mr Usain Bolt...that's who.

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

Sprint legend Usain Bolt, winner of eight Olympic gold medals, is at the Circuit of the Americas and has been posing in the Mercedes garage with Lewis Hamilton.

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Just how costly will those retirements for Sebastian Vettel in Singapore and Japan prove to be?

Robert MacPhee: Surely it would make more sense for Hamilton to win the title in Mexico as he is yet to win the championship twice at one circuit.

Jeremiah Kariuki: Hamilton may be silently wishing to win the title today! Vettel will be pushing. But the pushing could lead to mistakes!

Kayleigh: Pretty sure waiting for the Grand Prix today has been as long as the whole winter break! Please make it a good one.

What do you want to see happen today and what do you think will happen? Tweet us using the hashtag #bbcf1 and get involved.

It looked like it would be a thrilling title race, but Lewis Hamilton has stormed clear in the drivers' championship with four wins in his last five races, while Vettel has failed to finish in two of those and also only came fourth in Malaysia.

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