A Bottas win, a marauding Mad Max, and ultimately, a jubilant Lewis Hamilton- what do the 2019 US Grand Prix predictions seem like?
Having embraced the Mexican heat, the Formula 1 entourage has arrived at chilly Texas for Round 19 of the ongoing season with only 2 races remaining on the calendar thereafter.
As the 2019 Driver’s title now increasingly points to a one-way street, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton needing no more than 4 points to claim a phenomenal sixth driver’s title, there’s a lot less adventure remaining in the major battle among the drivers.
Yet, there’s a lot to play for.
Will Valtteri Bottas succeed in his mission of ‘playing for pride,’ having just claimed a sensational eleventh pole of his career?
How far will the Scarlett Red cars go in denying Mercedes, their main oppressors a win?
And can Max Verstappen, starting from third, grab a second podium after a wonderful outing the last time around at the Circuit of the Americas?
Let’s examine some possibilities in the form of five 2019 US Grand Prix Predictions:
Bottas clinches a memorable win
An interesting possibility in contention of the 2019 US Grand Prix predictions seems to be a Bottas win.
The only man thus far to have challenged Lewis Hamilton’s authority, if only on a few occasions, is Valtteri Bottas, someone who, it must be reiterated has emerged with massive improvement this year vis-a-vis his heartbreaking fortunes in the previous season.
For someone who endured countless DNFs in 2018, a year where he failed to claim a single win to bouncing back astoundingly with 3 wins, Valtteri seems ready to score a fourth win for Mercedes in the current season.
What will be brilliant is if Bottas can claim his fifteenth podium for 2019 and it seems that’ll be an eventuality as the Finn will stand on the top step of the podium.
Vettel scores the only podium for Ferrari
There won’t be a Ferrari win on Sunday and what’ll be most satisfying from a fan perspective will be to see at least one among their two gifted drivers on the podium. And it will be the experienced and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel who’ll score a consolation second on the podium.
Vettel will begin well during the getaway, somehow denying Verstappen’s blazing attack and will control his race pace well enough to constantly stand in contention of a top-three finish.
Ferrari’s race will majorly boil down to reacting to Bottas’ race strategy and it appears that they will hope to make the undercut work on Bottas. But Texas’ twisty 56-lap challenge will see Ferrari lacking in the corner speed, a critical strength using which Mercedes will capitalize.
Verstappen puts up a stellar show, claims the fastest lap
What’s rather surprising from the perspective of Max Verstappen is that of his 28 podium finishes in Formula 1, only 1 has occurred at the COTA.
But it seems, this will receive a major boost this weekend as Verstappen will put on a cracker of a show at the twisting race-track at Texas.
Beginning from third on the grid, not the worst possible place on the grid, the young Dutchman will immediately put Vettel under pressure and will be on the offensive right from the opening lap.
In executing a successful two-stop, Verstappen, not the most gifted in tire-management will eventually succeed in completing a successful longer stint on the softer tyres and will grab a vital podium in the end.
Among the interesting 2019 US Grand Prix predictions to note is that Verstappen will drive home the fastest lap of the American Grand Prix.
Impressive drive from Daniel Ricciardo
There was heartbreak for Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo the last time around he hit the track here in Texas. In driving his final race at the COTA for Red Bull, all he would manage was a forgettable DNF. But this time around, beginning from a strong ninth on the grid, the famous Australian driver, clearly one of the most improved talents on the grid particularly in the second half of the season, the Renault driver will control his race with surgical precision, defending and attacking equally well.
He will outscore Hulkenberg once again and will try to finish comfortably inside the top ten.
Hamilton on top of the world
Perhaps we are in an age where one may have run out of the best adjectives to describe arguably the best driver on the grid. For someone who is both consistent and attacking in equal measure, there’s hardly an off day in the life of Lewis Hamilton.
That one came in the form of an erroneous move in the middle sector in the final moments of the qualifying was perhaps an indication that even the very best are entitled to making an odd error.
But nonetheless, Lewis will drive a decent race and will battle on to finish comfortably inside the top five on the grid, doing just enough to earn a well-deserved sixth driver’s title.
Sparks will fly on the tarmac as fireworks will light up a cheery Texan sky in a humble admiration of the man of the moment: multiple world champion Lewis Hamilton.